

T > 




I 


*1 


V 


I 





% 


















I 





j 





• 4 . 






A 


• i 














RETURN OF THE FAIRIES 


CHARLES J.’ BELLAMY 


ILLUSTRATED “BF CHARLES W- 1{EED 


LITTLE FOLKS PUBLISHING COMPANY 

SPRINGFIELD, MASS. 




' car 2 6 189 ? y 

«> f/ 








y //- 


FZ2 

3 ^23 

7 ^-c, 


44209 

Copyright, 189Q, 

By Charles J. Bellamy. 

TWO COPIES RECEIVED, 



•econd copy, 

C. J. PETERS & SON, TYPOGRAPHERS, 
posjorj, 

' 2>‘3 . 


*1 

> 


Contents. 


PACK 

Story of a Christmas Eve 1 

Story of the Three Fishes 28 

Story of the Enchanted Cave 54 

Story of the Bad Boy . 98 

Story of the Golden Key 122 

Story of the Magic Mirror 152 






m 

r 




* 



# 







* I 


i 








A 


4 


I 



RETURN OF THE FAIRIES. 


STORY OF A CHRISTMAS EVE. 


Helen’s Christmas-tree was lighted up the afternoon 
of the day before Christmas. Her mother had given her 
a party, and all her little friends, both boys and girls, had 
been invited. The tree, with its hundreds of colored 
candles and gayly tinted balls and bells and wreaths of 
tinsel, each branch loaded until it fairly groaned with gifts 
small and big, had been set in the drawing-room, carefully 
darkened as if it were indeed night. 

The guests agreed that they had never before seen so 
beautiful a Christmas-tree. All the tints of the rainbow 
gleamed among the green, while strings of glass beads and 
chains of polished metal glistened like rain-drops in the 
summer sun. The parents and friends of each of the guests 
had sent presents to be hung upon the tree, or to be heaped 
on the floor beneath, besides all that Helen’s parents had 
provided. 


2 


Return of the Fairies. 


After the tree was stripped the company were led to the 
grand dining-room. The table looked almost like a flower- 
bed, yet space enough had been left for all the kinds of 
dainties which are best liked by children. The festival 
closed with games ; and when the guests went away, each 
one told the truth to the little hostess in saying that none 
of them had ever enjoyed a more charming Christmas Eve. 

But Helen’s choicest gifts had been saved until after 
her guests were gone. Among them was a doll as large as 
a child and dressed like a grown woman of fashion, a 
pair of silver skates, a beautiful little desk with chair just 
fitted to it in size, a set of furs, and a loving note from her 
father saying there was a new Shetland pony for her in the 
stable. But I will not stop to attempt to so much as men- 
tion all of them. 

It is now half-past six o’clock, and Helen is just finish- 
ing her tea in the nursery. She is quite alone. Her 
parents have both gone out for the evening ; and the nurse, 
whose duty it was to attend to the little girl, was keeping 
her Christmas Eve down-stairs. It so happened that of all 
her presents she had brought only one into the nursery. 
This was a fruit-knife which her uncle had found in a far 
Eastern country. Having finished with her light meal, the 
child took up the knife and looked it over, remembering 
that her uncle had said, when he gave it to her, that it was 
many thousand years old, the story being that it once 
belonged to a famous magician. She noticed some words 
engraved on the handle, and drew the knife close to her fac^ 


Story of a Christmas Eve. 


3 


while she tried to make them out. But no sooner had her 
breath fallen on the words than the light in the room sud- 
denly brightened, just as if twice the gas-jets blazed up at 
once. As she raised her eyes she saw a wonderful creature, 



Helen Has a Strange Visitor. 


dressed in long flowing garments like a woman, but more 
beautiful than she had ever seen before. 

“What do you want?” cried Helen, jumping out of 
her chair in terror. 


4 


Return of the Fairies. 


“ What do jv(?« want ? ” echoed the strange visitor ; “I 
am here to do your bidding.” 

“ But I did not call you,” said Helen, hesitating whether 
to stay for the answer or to run out of the room. 

“Yes,” answered the visitor; “when you breathed on 
the words in the handle of that knife still in your hand, 
then it was that you called me.” 

The now thoroughly frightened child was about to rush 
out of the room, when the beautiful visitor put out her 
shapely white hand, and, smiling very sweetly, said, “ Do 
not be afraid of me, little girl ; I am your friend. Listen, 
and I will explain why it is that I come to. you. That 
knife, which you hold in your hand, was made by a great 
magician more years ago than you can count. By his won- 
derful power, which people nowadays cannot understand, 
he made it so that when a little girl under ten years old 
breathes on the words engraved in the handle, I or others 
like me must straightway appear before her, and offer to 
bring about whatever she desires. The knife has not been 
used in this way for hundreds of years, because it has hap- 
pened that it has been in the hands only of grown persons. 
But after so long waiting, I am at last called to service. 
Whatever you ask of me, it is my duty to do. If there is 
anything you want, you have only to mention it and I will 
obtain it for you.” 

Helen was not a timid child ; and she put her hand in 
that of her beautiful visitor without further delay, saying, 
“ And 1 can have anything I want ? ” 


Story of a Christmas Eve. 


5 


‘‘Yes,” answered her visitor, smiling sweetly. “ Now, 
what do you want ? ” 

But Helen hesitated a moment before replying. 

“ This is very kind of you,” she said at last, in her 
most polite manner. “ Can you spare me time to think a 
little?” 

“ Certainly,” answered the visitor. “ I have two hours 
to spend with you.” 

“Well,” said Helen at last, “come with me and see my 
new Christmas presents. Perhaps, when I look them over, 
I will think of something I want.” 

So, hand in hand, the fairy and the little girl passed 
out of the nursery into the hall, and down the grand stair- 
way to the still larger hall below, whose floor was polished 
like ivory and half covered with rugs of the softest tints 
and finest material, brought from the far East, where it 
took nearly a lifetime to make even one. 

The door of the dining-room connecting with the hall 
stood ajar, and within could be seen the long table still 
covered with the remains of the feast which forty children 
had lately enjoyed. The air of the room was heavy with 
the perfume of big bouquets of the rarest of flowers, while 
at each deserted place at the table was a bunch of beau- 
tiful blossoms, which the more than satisfied little guests 
had not thought it worth while to take away with them. 

But Helen eagerly drew her new friend into the drawing- 
room, the ceiling of which was painted to show the story of 
a famous poem^ whose side walls were hung with beautiful 


6 


Return of the Fairies. 



pictures, while rare pieces of statuary or highly ornamented 
tables and costly vases stood here anH there. At one end 
of the room was the now dark Christmas-tree, which, tall 
as it was, did not reach, with its very topmost leaflet, half 


Helen Shows Her Christmas Presents. 

way to the celling. A couch had been drawn up on which 
many gifts had been carelessly thrown. 

“Were all these presents given to you?” asked the 
fairy. “ How kind your parents are to you ! ” 

“ Pooh,” answered the child ; “ these are nothing ! 


Story of a Christmas Eve. 


7 


Papa and mamma did not want to put my best things on 
the tree for fear of making the other children envious, you 
know. Come into the next room and I will show you my 
real presents ; ” and for the first time that afternoon Helen 
actually appeared for the moment to take an interest in her 
good things, since she thought she could astonish somebody 
by showing them. 

The little room to which the child and the fairy had now 
come was full of beautiful and costly articles, to each of 
which was fastened a card showing that it was for Helen 
with the love of father or mother or some relative or close 
friend. This whole page is not large enough to describe 
them. The fairy glanced from the many gifts to the child 
upon whom all these favors were heaped. 

“Your parents and friends love you very much. But 
you do not seem to be much pleased with all your gifts. 
How is it ? ” 

After thinking for a moment, Helen answered, “Well, 
no. To tell the truth, I don’t care much for any of my 
Christmas presents.” 

“ But what would you have liked better ? ” asked the 
fairy. “ You must know that you have only to say what 
you really want, and I can give it to you as soon as the 
words are out of your mouth.” 

“ That is just my greatest trouble,” said the child ; “ I 
do not know of anything that I want.” The fairy looked 
astonished, and Helen hastened to explain. “You see, 
I have always had everything before I really had time to 


Return of the Fairies. 


want it, to say nothing of a great number of things which 
I never could have wanted. So now, when Christmas or 
my birthdays come, there is nothing I care for left to give 
me. What is a Christmas good for if a little girl doesn’t 
want anything? It makes me sad to think that I do not 
find the joy in Christmas that other children do.” 

Then the fairy seemed to be saddened for a moment, 
and the brightness which had come from her dimmed, as 
does the light from the sun when clouds come before it. 
“My dear little girl,” she said after a time, “ I am afraid 
there is no gift I could bring you that would make you 
any happier. Your parents are only too ready to heap 
gifts upon you. In these days I see that those who are 
very rich can do more than the magicians of old would 
have dared to hope.” The fairy moved as if about to go. 
“ So, if you do not mind, I think I will leave you. Fairies 
and enchantments are of no use to such children as you, I 
think. How different it used to be a few thousand years 
ago ! ” and the beautiful creature sighed. 

But Helen clung tight to her hand. “Are you sure 
there is nothing that I could think of to want? How many 
children there must be who would be only too glad to have 
the chance I do not know how to use.” 

A sudden idea seemed to strike the fairy. Instead of 
now trying to release herself from Helen’s clinging hand, 
she bent her shining head, and pressed a light kiss on the 
child’s pure but troubled forehead. 

“ You have made me think of a plan,” she said. “ Per- 


Story of a Christmas Eve. 


9 


haps, since you find you want nothing for yourself, you 
would like to use your chance to help somebody else not 
as fortunate as you.” 

Helen clapped her hands with glee. “Yes, yes,” she 
cried, jumping up and down in excitement, “ that would he 
delightful. But how am I to know what these other 
people want, or how to help them ? ” 

“ Suppose we visit some of them,” replied the fairy, now 
as calm and sweet as at first. “ I can make us both invis- 
ible, so that those that we call on will not know we are 
there. Then we can hear them talk, and see for ourselves 
what would make them happy.” 

“ But how far are we to go ? ” objected Helen, shrinking 
a little from the trip out into the night. 

The fairy smiled. “ Oh ! as far or as little way as you 
choose. You know that everything is to go to-night by 
your wishes. Or you can go as fast or as slow as you please. 
Shall we start ? ” 

Helen still hesitated. “ But how am I to give people 
what they want just by wishing it ? ” she asked. 

Now the fairy laughed out loud. “ Why, my dear 
child, have you not read enough fairy-stories to know that 
there are no ‘ whys ’ where fairies are concerned ? I will 
guide you, if you are ready to start.” 

Helen was too much excited to speak, but she nodded 
her little head very bravely ; and in a moment more, en- 
folded in the loving arms of the fairy, she passed right 
through the thick stone walls of her house, and floated 


o 


Return of the Fairies. 


down the street much as a bit ot tmstle-down floats on the 
gentle summer breeze. 

As they were passing a gayly lighted house, Helen 
cried, “ Let’s wait a minute and hear the music. This is 
where papa and mamma are spending the evening. Oh, 
see the ladies and gentlemen dancing past the windows ! 
What a fine time they must be having ! ” 

“ So these people on the sidewalk seem to think,” an- 
swered the fairy. “ Listen to them.” 

“ How happy people can be if they are rich ! ” said one. 

“ Oh ! I wish I could live in a house like that,” said 
another. 

The complaining ones did not look like persons to be 
pitied ; but Helen whispered to her new friend, “ Why may 
I not make these people happy ? ” 

The fairy replied, “You are free to give them what 
you choose, my dear ; but I am very sure what they are 
so hungry for would not make them any happier if they 
had it.” 

So the fairy and the child swept on until they came to 
the streets where the stores were all ablaze with lights, and 
crowds of curious people staring into the show windows. 
It was in front of a candy-store that two children were 
standing, looking in greedily at the tempting piles of 
colored bonbons. 

“ Poor little things ! ” said Helen ; “ why not stop and 
help them ? Don’t object ; if I have any such power as 
you tell me, I must use some of it now. 1 want these two 


Story of a Christmas Eve. 


I 


poor children to have not only their candies but the other 
things, which will change that sad look on their faces and 
never let it come back again.” 



Helen Sees People She Wants to Help. 

The fairy smiled sweetly as she replied, “ I obey your 
command. A messenger is already on the way, who will 
not only give them a happy Christmas Eve, but will do his 
best to make their home much more pleasant than it has 
ever been.” 

It was only a few steps farther along that two well- 




2 


Return of the Fairies. 


dressed women stood gazing into the windows of a fur 
store. One of them was saying, “Oh! I so want that set 
of sealskins. 1 am sure I would be perfectly happy if I 
only had it.” 

Helen laid her hand on the arm of her new friend, 
“ Let me help her. Surely I shall never find a better 
chance to do good. You see how unhappy this woman 
is. Why not give her the furs ? ” 

“You may do so if you like,” answered the fairy; “but 
if you take my advice you will hasten to those who need 
you much more.” 

So they sped more rapidly away from the bright and 
gay streets, and into the part of the city where the poorest 
people live. The streets became narrow and dark and 
dirty, the houses were ugly blocks, twenty families living 
in twice as many rooms. The visito!-s were not hindered by 
walls, however solid they might look, but passed through 
brick as if it were nothing but air, and stood in a room the 
like of which Helen had never seen before. Three or 
four broken windows were stuffed with old rags to keep 
out the crisp December air. The walls of the room were 
bare, and there was not so much as a scrap of carpet on the 
cheerless floor. The only furniture in the room was a bed, 
with a cot beside it, a bare table, two or three hardwood 
chairs, and an old kitchen stove. 

A man sat at the table from which the family had just 
eaten a scanty and uninviting meal of bread and water. 
His head was bowed over his hands, and he seemed very 


Story of a Christmas Eve. i 3 



Helen Sees More Unhappy Persons. 


unhappy. Two little children, both younger than Helen, 
were holding up their torn stockings to their mother to 
hang up behind the stove. 

“ It’s Christmas Eve, you know, mother,” said the six- 
year-old boy. “ This is the night that Santa Claus comes 
and fills the stockings of good children with presents.” 

The mother wiped away a tear; and her voice sounded 
broken as she answered, “I’m afraid there is no use in 
hanging up your stockings to-night.” 


Return of the Fairies. 


14 


“ Why, dear mamma,” asked the little girl, who was 
two years younger ; “ haven’t we been pretty good ? We 
are sorry, aren’t we, brother, that we cried to-night be- 
cause there was not bread enough for supper. But Santa 
wouldn’t stay away just for that, when we are sorry.” 

The mother took the two pairs of stockings helplessly 
from the uplifted hands. “ I guess there are too many 
holes in the stockings,” she said at last, in a voice that did 
not sound like their mother’s. 

Then the father raised his pale face from his hands to 
say, “ Why this nonsense ^ You know there is nothing 
for them.” 

But at this the children began to cry ; and Helen, whom 
none of them could see, cried too, while the father dropped 
his head on his hands again, but lower than before. The 
mother took a hammer, and tacked the two ragged pairs 
of stockings up behind the stove without another word. 
Then the children climbed gleefully into their little bed. 
They were sure that dear Santa would come. All they had 
been afraid of was that their mother would not hang up 
their stockings. 

As for Helen, she was crying so hard that she could 
scarcely find her voice to say, “ Dear, good fairy, please do 
not refuse to help them.” 

“ Be patient, my dear,” answered the fairy. 

Now the father raised his head from his hands again, 
and said in a low tone to his wife, “ Why did you do it ? 
You know as well as I that their poor little stockings will 


Story of a Christmas Eve. 


15 


be empty in the morning. I can see their little faces when 
they find that Santa Claus has forgotten them ; ” and his 
voice broke. 

The mother did not look him in the face as she 



Helen Finds a Sad Family. 

replied, “Yes, and so can I. But I saw no harm in send- 
ing them to bed happy. It will be bad enough in the 
morning for all of us.” 

“True enough,” said the father; “not a mo^thful of 


Return of the Fairies. 


i6 

food or a penny in the house, and even hope flown out 
of the window. Poor little things, they will cry so hard 
for their missing breakfast that they will soon forget about 
Santa’s neglect ; ” and he covered his eyes with his hand 
aspf to shut out the sight. 

“ Perhaps to-morrow you can find some work by which 
you can earn money enough to feed us,” said his wife wist- 
fully. “ It takes so little just for that, you know.” 

“ If I could only find my old friend,” he replied, 
“ there might be some hope. But you know how I have 
searched in vain for him. Nobody seems to want me. 
H ow cruel is a great city to a man or woman without 
friends ! ” 

And now the children were both asleep with a sweet 
smile on their faces, as they dreamed about Santa Claus. 

But Helen could endure the scene no longer. “ I 
can’t wait a minute more,” she cried. “ Santa Claus must 
come right away.” 

And the words were no sooner out of her mouth than 
a sharp knock was heard at the door. 

“ Come in,” called the father, without even looking 
round. He expected no visitor except some one asking 
him for money which he could not pay. He feared most 
of all that it was the landlord come to say they must move 
out into the street. 

The door opened, and a burly figure entered. 

“ Good-evening,” said a bluff and ^cheery voice, “ and 
a merry Christmas to all.” 


Story of a Christmas Eve. 


7 


The father turned in his seat ready to demand with 
angry words what sort of a merry Christmas there could 
be for the poor, when a sight met his eyes that stopped the 
words on his lips. 

The uninvited guest wore long white whiskers ; his 



Helen Calls Santa Claus to the Rescue. 


cheeks were cherry red, while laughing black eyes twinkled 
out from beneath shaggy gray eyebrows. He was clad in 


i8 


Return of the Fairies. 


furs from top to toe, and carried a big pack on his back, 
from the open top of which could be seen all sorts of toys 
such as delight children. Without delay he swung his pack 
from his back to the floor; but by this time it may be 
believed the mother had become very much interested. 

“Merry Christmas to you, sir,” she said ; “you must 
excuse us for being slow in answering your greeting, but it 
has been long since we have heard words so pleasant. And 
what brings you to this dreary place on so gay a night ? ”• 

“ Are there not two good little children here ? ” asked 
the bluff visitor ; “ I seldom make a mistake.” 

The father looked on speechless ; but the mother, with 
brightened face, promptly replied, “ Why, yes, there are no 
sweeter or better children in the whole world than our little 
girl and boy.” 

“ Well, then,” continued the visitor, looking inquiringly 
around the room, “ I have brought some little things for 
them. Where are their stockings ? ” 

The mother pointed to the wall behind the stove, “ The 
children wanted so much to hang up their stockings that 
I let them,” she explained breathlessly ; “ but I told them 
not to expect anything.” 

The visitor bustled across the room with his pack, the 
mother keeping beside him. “ There are big holes in the 
stockings,” said she sadly ; “ I could not mend them.” 

“Never mind that,” broke in the visitor ; “what the 
stockings don’t hold, the floor will.” 

Just then the children in the cot were awakened by the 



Story of a Christmas Eve. 


Santa Claus Opens His Big PacJ^. 


Strange voice ; and both sat bolt upright, gazing with wide 
open eyes at the new-comer with his wonderful bag. 

“ It is Santa Claus,” whispered one. 

“Yes,” answered the other; “and you know mamma 
thought he wouldn’t find us way up here.” 

“ But we mustn’t let him know we saw him,” said the 
boy ; “ he might not like it.” 

So without another word the dear children lay down 
again in their little bed, and went back to their dreams. 


20 


Return of the Fairies. 


Santa Claus lost no further time, but began to take the 
most wonderful things out of his pack. First, of course, 
came boxes and horns of candy — no child’s Christmas would 
be right without candy. Then came bags of pop-corn, big 
oranges, and cookies of all sorts. Now the pack began to 
give forth still more delightful gifts — trumpets and whistles, 
drums and harmonicas, dolls and dolls’ clothes, toy wagons, 
Noah’s arks, blocks, picture-books, lead soldiers, jumping- 
jacks, until the space behind the dingy old kitchen stove 
looked like a toy-store. And all the while the father was 
trembling with excitement, and the loving mother kept 
breaking out into words of delight and surprise. As for 
Helen, the invisible spectator of all the happiness her wish 
had brought into this sad home, she was clapping her hands 
every second, and wondering it made no noise. 

But it seemed that Santa Claus had by no means finished 
when he had brought out-of his wonderful pack the great 
supply of toys apd candies and fruits. He now began to 
draw forth all sorts of tempting food, — a turkey and a pair 
of chickens all cooked and ready to eat, a delicious-looking 
jar of cranberry sauce, pies and cakes, and plenty of good 
bread and butter. He only paused long enough to get his 
breath, when down he dove into another part of the big 
pack, and this time brought out mittens, reefers, coats, 
caps, stockings, even boots and shoes, until the room began 
to look like a clothing-store and bakery, with a toy annex 
behind the stove. 

Then the remarkable visitor shouldered his pack again. 


Story of a Christmas Eve. 


21 


and made as if he were going out, when suddenly the father 
started forward. “ I did not believe in Santa Claus before,” 
he said ; “ but I believe in him now, and if he ever came 
where he was needed, he did so this evening. You don’t 
know how grateful we are, or how happy the little ones 
will be in the morning.” 

Santa Claus cleared his throat as if uncertain whether to 
laugh or cry. “ Well, I’m glad I came. Good-by, and a 
merry Christmas again.” 

Shouldering his pack, his hand was turning the door- 
knob, when Helen whispered to the fairy, “ Don’t let him 
go yet. Can’t Santa find the man some nice place to work.? 
Oh ! please make him, dear fairy.” 

“Just as you say, my dear,” answered the fairy with a 
smile ; and the words were no sooner out of her mouth than 
Santa Claus turned back into the room. 

“ I have forgotten something,” he said,- as he took off 
his pack again ; “ I have a letter which I must give you.” 

After fumbling awhile in his big pockets, he drew forth 
a sealed envelope and handed it to the father. Then he 
was gone so suddenly that it seemed as if he must have 
dropped through the floor. 

For as much as a minute after the wonderful visitor had 
gone the father stood with the letter in his hand, as if he 
did not know what to do with it. Then he said to his 
wife, “ I don’t know whether I am dreaming or not.” 

She came close up to him so she could look over his 
shoulder, as she answered, “We are both wide awake, my 


22 


Return of! the Fairies. 


dear. But why don’t you open your letter? it may be 
another pleasant surprise.” 

So he tore open the letter as if more afraid than hope- 
ful of what should be in it, and this is what he read aloud : — 

“Dear Friend, — I only just found out where you were. I need a 
man just like you, my old friend, in my office. Come the day after Christ- 
mas, ready to go to work. ’ ’ 

But when the father came to the name signed to the 
letter he was too much astonished to pronounce it. He 
merely let the letter fall to the floor, murmuring, — 

“ This must be a dream.” 

“ But who wrote it ? ” asked his excited wife ; “ does 
this mean that our troubles are to be over ? ” 

Then the husband caught his wife in his arms, and 
kissed her again and again. “Yes, my dear, it means that 
our troubles are over. This letter is from an old friend of 
mine, now one of the richest merchants in the city. Don’t 
you see, he has found out about me, and wants me to help 
him in his business. If we are not both dreaming, we shall 
never know what it is to be cold or hungry again, suffering 
ten times worse in seeing our children suffer.” 

Just then there was a rustling sound from the cot, and a 
voice piped up, “ Has Santa Claus gone yet, mamma ? ” The 
children were awake, and both sitting up in their bed, their 
faces flushed, and their eyes shining with excitement and 
pleasure. 

“Yes, darlings,” answered the mother, going up to the 


Story of a Christmas Eve. 23 

cot, and bending over to kiss the sweet eager faces ; “ Santa 
has gone, and he did not forget you.” 

“Then mayn’t we get up,” asked the boy, “and see 
what is in our stockings ? Why need we wait till morning? 
O mamma ! we saw him, didn’t we, sister ? but we didn’t 
let him know.” 

“ Yes, please let us get up, mamma,” chimed in the 
little girl. “ We can’t go to sleep again unless you do.” 

“ Certainly,” said the father. “ Let them get up this 
minute. You know Christmas only comes once a year;” 
and he laughed as gayly as a child. 

So the mother helped the children put on enough cloth- 
ing so they would not take cold, and soon they pattered 
across the bare floor to the array of wonderful gifts behind 
the stove. 

“ Oh, here is a doll ! ” cried the little girl, clapping her 
hands. “It must be for me, I did so want a doll.” 

“ And here is a drum ! ” shouted the boy ; “ that must be 
for me, I thought I was never going to get a drum.” 

“ And here is a set of little dishes !” cried the girl. 

“ And here is a box of lead soldiers ! ” shouted the boy. 
“ See the picture-books and the blocks ! ” 

“ Look at the trumpets and the tops ! ” 

“ The stockings are just full of candy ! ” 

“ Oh, see these oranges ! ” 

“ These mittens just fit me ! ” 

“ This cap is just my size ! ” 

“ These beautiful shoes must be for me ! ” 


24 


Return of the Fairies. 



“ And these boots must be mine.” 

And finally the father took the little girl in his lap, and 
the mother held the boy in her arms, while each of the 
children rattled on about their wonderful Christmas Eve, 


Helen Sees a Happy Family. 

and laughed at the old folks for having said there would be 
no use to hang up stockings. And the joy that shone on 
the faces of that father and mother no words can describe. 

Helen would have stayed much longer, but the fairy 
reminded her that time was going fast. 


Story of a Christmas Eve. 


25 


“ This is such a happy night for me,” said the girl. 
“Where are we going next? There must be many others 
just as miserable as was the family we have helped. You 
seem to be taking me away from this block. Is there 
nobody left unhappy within these dismal walls?” 

“Alas, yes, my child,” answered the fairy; “we could 
hardly go amiss. But my time is almost gone. You 
remember I told you when I first came that I had but two 
hours for you. They are now on their last minutes. I 
have barely enough time left to take you safely home before 
I must go.” 

As soon as they had reached Helen’s own room again, 
her beautiful friend bent down to kiss her good-by. “ I 
must now be on the wing.” 

“ Oh ! ” cried the child, “ I have had such a happy 
evening; I never was so happy before. It was better than 
all the fine presents I have received in all my life.” 

“ Good-by,” said the fairy, moving away. 

“ Good-by,” answered Helen ; “ but it will not be for 
long. Now that I know you, I shall call on you very often. 
Can’t you come again to-morrow night ? ” 

“ As long as you keep your knife, and remain under 
ten years old, you can call me whenever you wish, and I 
shall be glad to come; I have had vacation enough. It is 
a delight to me to help to do such things as you have asked 
for. Another little girl might not use the magic knife so 
well. Be very careful not to lose it.” 

Helen began to look troubled as she glanced over the 


26 


Return of the Fairies. 



Helen Bids Her Fairy Good-By. 

table. “ I thought I took the knife with me in my hand ; 
I hope I did not lose it ; I don’t see it about the room. 
What shall I do if it is lost ? ” 

“ Perhaps you may find it,” answered her friend, still 
moving away ; “ but if you do not, just keep on doing what 
you have enjoyed doing so much to-night, — helping those 
who need help. You have found the secret of real happi- 
ness.” 

“ But I am not a fairy,” said the child, just ready to cry. 
“No,” replied the beautiful visitor; “ but what good 



Story of a Christmas Eve. 


27 


you can do of your own self will give you far greater hap- 
piness. Good-by.” 

And the fairy was gone, while in her place, when Helen 
looked up again, was the nurse. “ It is long past your bed- 
time, child,” said the woman ; “ why didn’t you call me ? 
I have been having such a pleasant time down-stairs that I 
quite forgot you. You must have been lonesome.” 

“ Oh, no ! ” answered Helen, following her out of the 
room ; “ I have never been so happy before in my whole 
life.” 




STORY OF THE THREE FISHES. 


It is a sad thing for a boy to be left without a father 
and mother, but that is just what happened to Harry 
Bolton when he was only ten years old. His father 
died first ; and his mother had a hard time earning enough 
money to buy food and clothes for herself and her boy for 
two years, after which she also fell sick and died. 

Harry’s uncle was not a very pleasant man, and he had 
a large family of his own to care for. So, although he 
made a home for Harry, the boy could not help thinking 
that his uncle did not love him, and that his aunt wished 
him out of the way. His cousins, too, were not agreeable 
playfellows ; they often treated Harry so badly that he 
cried, but he was always very careful to go by himself 
when he did so, because he knew very well that he could 
expect no comfort from his uncle or aunt. His father 
and mother had always thought he was a good boy. They 
never had to tell him but once when they wanted him 
to do or not to do anything. He would always run his 
little legs off to please them. All the neighbors had said, 
too, that there was no better boy in town than Harry 
Bolton. But although he was just the same boy in his 

28 


Story of the Three Fishes. 


29 


uncle’s house, always willing to do as he was bid, not quar- 
relsome or fault-finding, still he never had a word of praise 
there, and he only hoped for the day when he was grown 
up, and could go away and earn his own living. 

Harry’s room was in the attic of the house, a very large 
room indeed, for that matter, since it was the whole attic, 
his bed being laid on the floor in one corner. Harry had 
no companion at night but the rats, of which he was very 
much afraid. 

It happened that one night he felt very badly indeed. 
One of his cousins had quarrelled with him, and struck him 
in the face, and afterwards falling down and hurting himself, 
he set up a great cry, calling his mother from the house. 
The naughty boy told her that Harry had struck him ; and 
she whipped her nephew very hard, and sent him up to his 
attic without any supper. Harry tried to sleep ; but the 
rats were very lively that night, and, although they meant 
no harm, they frightened him. Then he fell to thinking 
of what an unhappy life he had, and wishing that his father 
and mother were alive to -give him their tender love and 
care. The boy had not known such a thing as a loving 
word or a kiss since he had come to his uncle’s house to 
live. 

When it had grown quite dark, Harry arose from his 
bed, and walked to the little window of his attic, and looked 
out. He could see the twinkling lights of the houses all 
over the village, and he wondered whether there was any 
other little boy as miserable as he in the whole world. 


3 ^ 


Return of the Fairies. 



Harry Suffers for Another’s Fault. 

“ I wish there were such things as fairies,” he cried ; and 
then was frightened at the sound of his own voice, lest it 
might have been heard down-stairs, and get him another 
whipping. 

All of a sudden he heard an answer, “ There are such 
things as fairies.” 

And, sure enough, on the coping of the little attic win- 
dow stood the most beautiful little creature one could think 
of. She was not much taller than the length of his arm, 
and was dressed in cloth of gold, all sprinkled over with 





Story of the Three Fishes. 


31 


diamonds. Her beautiful arms were bare from the shoul- 
der; and on her fingers were rings set with jewels, the 
names of which he did not know. From each shoulder 
vings unfolded, as white as snow, their edges glistening 
like hoar-frost on a bright fall morning. On her head was 
a little crown, and in her hand a wand of ivory in the top 
of which shone a diamond as large as a pea. But her face 
was most beautiful of all, so sweet and smiling and gentle. 

“There are such things as fairies,” she repeated ; “for 
I am one, and 1 have come to see if I can help you.” 

“H ow did you happen to come to me ? ” asked Harry, 
trembling with excitement at such joy as he had not had 
for many months. 

“ Because you have always been a good boy,” she said — 
“ have always told the truth, been obedient to your parents, 
and kind to every one. When such boys are in trouble, 
fairies love to help them. Now tell me what I can do for 
you.” 

The boy was too much confused and too happy at her 
kind words to know quite what to say. “ Oh, thank you ! ” 
he began, and then he stopped. 

She smiled very sweetly at him, and said, “ You don’t 
seem to know what to ask me, so I will think for you. 
Now, do just as I say, and your sorrows will all be ended.” 

“ Oh, I will ! I will ! ” he cried. So, while he was 
still leaning on the window, and the beautiful fairy was 
standing on the outside of the ledge, she told him what 
to do. 


32 


Return of the Fairies. 



“Get up early in the morning, and go down to the 
brook to fish. Throw your line in first where the water 
is deepest, a little way below the bridge. Whatever you 


A Fairy Makes Harry a Visit. 

catch throw it back again. Then wade across the brook to 
the other side, and throw your line in again, and once more 
whatever you catch throw back into the brook. Then 
walk along to the shallowest place in the whole brook, just 
above the big rock, and throw in your hook once more ; 
but what you catch the third time keep and dress.” 


Story of the Three Fishes. 


33 


A hundred questions rushed to the end of Harry’s 
tongue. “ What good will a little fish do me?” he cried; 
but all he heard was a laugh, like a chime of sweet bells, a 
rustle of wings like a dove’s, and the fairy was gone. 

For a long time he stood waiting, hoping that she would 
come back and tell him more ; and when she did not come 
he felt even more sad than at first, more lonesome than ever. 
Why had he not asked the fairy for some great thing before 
it was too late? Then he went back to his bed, and cried 
himself to sleep. 

The first light of day that came into Harry’s attic awoke 
him, and he remembered what the fairy had said to him the 
night before. It did not take him long to get his fish-line, 
and hurry down-stairs. He did not wait for his breakfast. 
He was very sure no one would miss him if he never came 
back. He went out in the garden and dug his bait, and 
ran down to the stream. Taking his place a little way below 
the bridge, where the water was deepest, he made ready to 
throw in his line. There were other little fishermen close 
at hand besides Harry, but no one happened to want to 
stand where he did. 

He threw his line very carefully, although his hands 
were trembling, as he wondered what would happen next. 
No sooner had his hook touched the water than the pole, 
which was a strong one, bent almost double ; and the other 
boys standing near set up a great shout, as Harry pulled a 
fish two feet long out of the brook. 

The other boys, who had only caught a few little fishes 


34 


Return of the Fairies. 


each, gathered around him in great excitement, and all said 
that no such fish as he had caught had ever been seen in 
that brook before. It was large enough to make a meal 



Harry Catches a Big Fish. 

for a family, and Harry thought how pleased his aunt would 
be to see him bring home such a prize. Perhaps at last 
she would say a kind word to him. Then he remembered 
what the fairy had told him, — to throw back the first fish 
he caught ; and the tears gushed to his eyes to think of 



Story of the Three Fishes. 


35 


what he would have to do ; for he was a true fisherman, 
and it seemed almost wicked to throw away such a won- 
derful catch as that. Yet no sooner had he released the 
hook, than, taking the big fish in both hands, he threw it 
back into the stream. 

You can imagine how the other little boys felt when 
they saw what Harry had done. They called him every 
name they could think of, and some of them even rushed 
into the water to try to catch the fish with their hands 
before it could get away. They asked him why he had 
done so crazy a thing, what he had been thinking of, what 
he meant by coming there and catching the best fish, and 
then throwing it back into the water. Harry did not an- 
swer them a word, but taking his bait-box and his pole and 
line, waded across the little brook to the other side, very 
thankful that the fairy had told him he might do that. 

But he had no sooner rebaited his hook, and prepared 
to throw it again into the water, than he found all the other 
boys had dropped their own poles, and waded across to his 
side. They were all anxious to see what this queer fisher- 
man would do next. When the hook struck the water, the 
pole again bent double with the weight of the fish which 
had taken it in its mouth ; and all the boys set up a shout, 
“He has caught the same one again.” 

But when Harry attempted to lift the fish out of the 
water, the weight was so great that it broke his pole in 
halves ; and he had to rush out into the stream, and catch 
hold of the line itself, in order to save his fish, which was so 


3 ^ 


Return of the Fairies. 


heavy that, stout little boy as he was, he could hardly lift 
it out of the water, standing as he did in the middle of the 
stream. 

H e once more loosened the hook from the mouth of 
this second and very much larger fish, and threw him back 
into the stream, and the boys on the bank of the brook 
went almost wild in their vexation ; and when he came back 
to shore they set upon him, threw him down, struck him, 
and kicked him. Perhaps there would have been no more 
of this story to tell unless a man had happened to pass that 
way to drive the boys away from Harry, so that the poor 
little fellow, with bleeding face and aching bones, could get 
to his feet again. When the man asked them why they 
were beating the poor little boy, they all tried to explain 
at once ; but he thought they must be telling a lie, for no 
such large fish had ever been seen in the village before, so 
he threatened to duck them in the brook if they did not 
stop telling stories, and went on his way. 

It was some time before poor little Harry could . 
straighten his line again, rebait his hook, and get ready, 
with what was left of his pole, to make his final throw in 
the shallowest part of the stream, according to the fairy’s 
directions. The boys now stood close about him, ex- 
pecting that this wonderful fisherman would next time 
surely land a whale, and ready to take it away from him, 
happen what might, before he could do so foolish a thing 
as to throw it away. 

No sooner had the hook again touched the water than 


Story of the Three Fishes. 


37 


a fish took it ; but the pole was not broken this time, nor 
yet bent double. Indeed, the weight was so slight that the 
line hardly straightened out as Harry lifted the fish out of 
the stream. This last capture of Harry’s was as small as 
the others had been big ; and the other boys, instead of try- 



Three to One Against Harry. 


ing to take it away from him, threw themselyes on the grass 
and roared in laughter and merriment at this third catch. 
And when they saw Harry, instead of throwing it back, as 


38 


Return of the Fairies. 


they supposed of course he would do, since the fish was too 
small to eat, take it carefully from the hook, and put it in 
his pocket, they laughed louder than ever. After winding 
his line about what was left of the pole, and throwing away 
the bait, he walked off, and the last sound he heard was the 
laughter of those same boys. 

H is bones were aching from the beating he had received, 
and even after washing the blood from his face he still felt 
very sore. He could not understand how such a little fish 
could do him any good, after all his trouble ; but he was sure 
that the fairy would not have told him to throw away two 
such wonderful catches as he had made, unless there was 
something he could not see in this little creature which was 
going to help him. Making his way behind a bush, where 
no one could see him, he took his knife from his pocket, 
and prepared to dress the little fish, with the idea that next 
he would build a little fire and eat him. The silly boy did 
not know but perhaps, after he had swallowed it, he would 
at once become a man, something which he had been want- 
ing so long. But his knife struck something hard. Inside 
he found a stone, almost as large as a pea, which, when he 
came to wipe it, shone like the brilliant he had seen in the 
end of the fairy’s wand. Harry had often stood in front 
of the village jewellery store staring at the shining gems in 
the window ; but he had never seen a stone as large as this, 
and the more he wiped it, the brighter it shone. It was a 
diamond ; there was no doubt about that. 

Leaving his hook and line and what was left of his pole 


Story of the Three Fishes. 


39 


under the bush, where he could find them again ; and put- 
ting the diamond carefully away in his most secret pocket, 
Harry started into the village and down toward the jewellery 



a Diamond in the Little Fish, 


Store, intending to try to sell his wonderful prize. When 
he entered the store the jeweller stood talking with a cus- 
tomer, and Harry, hearing the word “ diamond” mentioned, 
suddenly became very much interested. They were talk- 
ing about the rich Mr. Smith, who lived on top of the hill, 
and who had lost, only the day before, a very costly dia- 


40 


Return of the Fairies. 


mond. It had fallen, so the men were saying, out of the 
setting in his shirt-bosom while he was standing on the 
bridge which crossed the very same brook where Harry 
had caught his fish. Mr. Smith had sent men down to 
the brook to scrape its bed almost clean, under where the 
bridge was, in search for the diamond. Mr. Smith felt very 
badly, not only because the diamond was a valuable one, 
but even more because it had belonged to his father and his 
grandfather before him, and he would rather have lost ten 
other diamonds as large than this one. 

Just then the jeweller happened to see the boy standing 
there, and told him very crossly to go out of the store. 
This Harry was quite ready to do ; and he did not stop on 
the street either, but started as fast as his little legs would 
carry him, down the road, toward the little bridge which led 
across the brook. 

When he reached the bridge, sure enough, the men 
were still scraping the bottom, in search for the lost dia- 
mond, taking up the sand in pails, and then washing it out, 
looking carefully at every little pebble, in the hope that it 
might be the missing gem. But Harry now knew that 
they would not find the diamond there, since it was in his 
pocket, the little fish which he had caught at his third throw 
having swallowed it. 

He ran quickly across the bridge and up the hill toward 
Mr. Smith’s house. The diamond was Mr. Smith’s; and 
like the honest boy that he was, Harry had but one 
thought, and that was to return it to its owner. 


Story of the Three Fishes. 


41 


Now, every boy '.n town knew where Mr. Smith’s 
house was. He vas the richest man in all the country 
round ; he had one house in this village, another in the 
city, and still another at the seashore, and at that spent 



Harry Hurrying to Take the Diamond to its Owner. 


a good deal of his time in foreign countries. The place 
was surrounded by a high iron fence ; and the entrance was 
between two stone posts, the gates of which hung wide open 
when Harry came to them. Many a time before he had 
looked through that high fence and longed to go inside ; 


42 


Return of the Fairies. 


but this time he did not stop for permission, and thinking 
only of his errand, rushed boldly through the open gates 
and up the winding driveway, in the direction of the house, 
which looked to him more like a palace. 

He had gone but a few steps before he heard a gruff 
voice saying, “ What are you doing here, boy ? ” and look- 
ing around, he saw a man in working-clothes, with a rake 
in his hand, whom he supposed was the gardener. 

“ I want to see Mr. Smith,” he answered, almost out 
of breath from his running. 

“ What does such a little ragamuffin as you want to see 
Mr. Smith for?” asked the gardener, coming up to Harry. 

“ Oh, I must see him ! ” said Harry. 

“ There is no ‘must ’ about it,” growled the gardener, 
laying his hand on the little fellow’s shoulder. “We don’t 
allow boys like you in these grounds ; you’re a little beg- 
gar, that’s what you are.” 

“ Oh, no ! ” cried Harry, “ I never begged in my life. 
There is something I want to see him about.” 

But the gardener, still keeping hold of Harry’s shoul- 
der, laughed at him. “ What could such a little rowdy as 
you want of Mr. Smith ? He would drive you out of his 
house with a whip.” 

“ Not if he knew what I have for him,” said Harry. 

“What is that? ” demanded the gardener. But Harry 
was a careful little boy, and he thought it would not be 
best to tell. “ Come, get out ! ” said the gardener, push- 
ing him back with his strong hands. , _ 


Story of the Three Fishes. 


43 


But just then it happened that a maid, who had been 
sent on an errand down to the village, came in through 
the gate, and seeing the gardener pushing the boy so 
roughly away, cried out to him, “ What is the matter ? ” 



At this the gardener took his hand from Harry’s 
shoulder, and began to explain to the maid, who was one of 
his friends. Harry did not wait for any better chance, but 
the moment the heavy hand was removed from his shoulder 



44 


Return of the Fairies. 


he started to run up the driveway as fast as he could. As 
for the gardener, he was satisfied with calling two or three 
times after the boy, and then gave the rest of his attention 
to the pretty maid. 

But it was quite a steep hill, and very soon all Harry’s 
breath was gone. Looking back, he saw that the gardener 
was no longer even looking after him, so he stopped to 
catch his breath and look about him. It was the most 
beautiful place he had ever seen. On either side of the 
driveway were tall trees, whose boughs sheltered him from 
above almost like the roof of a piazza. But beyond the 
trees he could see flower-beds, summer-houses all covered 
with blossoms, little ponds with white swans on them, and 
boats on the banks, and a playground, where a sweet little 
girl of about his own age, with a sunbonnet. lying back on 
her shoulders, was romping with two or three of her little 
mates. He would dearly have loved to stay there for a 
long time ; but he remembered his errand, and hurried on 
toward the house. 

The driveway led up to the front steps, but they were 
quite too grand for him. The house was so large that he 
thought half the village might have lived in it, and as he 
glanced into the rooms through the windows they were like 
glimpses of fairyland to him. Making his way around the 
house, he at last came to a door which he thought more 
proper for a barefooted boy to enter, and going up to it he 
knocked. A maid came to the door, and looked very 
much astonished to see who it was that had knocked, 


Story of the Three Fishes. 


45 


“ What do you want here ? ” she said. 

“ I want to see Mr. Smith,” answered Harry. 

“ Mr. Smith ! ” she laughed ; “ why, he doesn’t want 
to see such little scamps as you.” 



Harry Sees Grace and Her Friends at Play. 


“ I have something to tell him,” pleaded Harry ear- 
nestly. 

«He is eating his breakfast,” said the maid very crossly, 
and was just shutting the door in Harry’s face, when a 


46 


Return of the Fairies. 


man, whom Harry could not see, spoke to her from behind, 
and asked who it was. 

“ Let me see the boy,” said the man. So the maid 
opened the door, and Harry stepped inside, and, looking 
to see who it was that had been talking to the maid, did 
not like his face at all. He was afraid of him at once. It 
was the butler, the man whom Mr. Smith hired to manage 
the whole house for him. 

Now, the butler was a shrewd man ; and he was satisfied 
that this little boy, who was so very anxious to see Mr. 
Smith, really had something important to say to him. But 
the butler was also a very selfish man, always trying to 
think of how he could gain something for himself out of 
whatever happened. He did not want to have the maid 
hear what Harry had to say ; so he called pleasantly, 
“ Come this way, little boy.” 

The maid looked surprised to hear the butler speak 
so politely to a barefooted little urchin ; but she had her 
own work to do, and went to attend to it, while the man 
led Harry through a long hall, into a room which the 
little fellow thought must be the best parlor of the 
whole house, although really it was only the butler’s wait- 
ing-room. 

“ Now, what is it, my little man?” began the butler 
very smoothly. 

“ I want to see Mr. Smith,” repeated Harry again. 

“ Sit down, my little fellow,” said the man. But Harry 
had never before seen such beautiful chairs as there were in 


Story of the Three Fishes. 


47 


this room, and he was afraid that he might soil one of 
them if he sat in it. 

“ Oh, no ! ” he replied ; “ I would rather stand.” 

“ What do you want to see him for, my little man ^ ” 
asked the butler. 

“ I can’t tell you,” said Harry. For the more smoothly 
the butler spoke, the more afraid Harry was of him’. He 
felt that he was a worse man than the gardener, although not 
anything like as rough. 

“Tell me your errand, little boy,” said the butler, 
“ and I will ask Mr. Smith if he will see you.” 

“ I can’t do that,” insisted Harry ; “ I want to see him 
myself.” 

By this time the butler was certain that Harry’s errand 
was something about the lost diamond ; and he wanted very 
much to learn what the secret was, so that he could use it 
for his own benefit. So he asked suddenly, “ You have 
found the diamond, have you ? ” 

“Oh! how did you know?” cried Harry, forgetting 
for the moment, and letting his secret out. 

“ Give it to me,” added the butler, smiling, “ and I will 
take it to him.” 

“ No, no,” insisted Harry ; “ I must take it to him 
myself” 

At this the butler looked very cross, and said more 
roughly, “ Well, you stay here, and I will go to Mr. Smith 
and ask him if he wants to see you.” 

Then he left the room, but had been gone only a very 


48 


Return of the Fairies. 


few seconds before he came in again, and said, “ Mr. Smith 
directs you to give me the diamond, so that I can take it to 
him. He is eating his breakfast.” 



The Butler Chases Harry. 


“No,” repeated Harry ; “ I must take it to him myself.” 

“ I don’t believe you have any diamond,” said the but- 
ler, now talking very crossly ; “ I think you are only a 
little beggar. Show it to me quickly, or I will shut you up 
in the cellar,” 


Story of the Three Fishes. 


49 


So Harry, not knowing what else to do, and being very 
much frightened, took the stone from his pocket and held 
it out. He saw from the look in the man’s eyes that it 
was really the lost diamond, and almost at once the butler 
jumped toward him, and tried to snatch the jewel from his 
hand ; but Harry gave a loud cry and ran for the door, the 
butler very close after him. 

The poor boy had never been so frightened in his life 
before. He thought of the dark cellar, where the man had 
said he would shut him up, and wished he had not listened 
to what the fairy had said to him the night before. Out 
into the hall he ran as fast as he could, hearing the heavy 
steps of the man behind him ; and just as he was almost 
overtaken he ran into the arms of a child, a girl, whom he 
almost knocked down. 

“ Oh ! oh ! ” she cried. “ What is the matter ? ” 

Harry was too much surprised to speak, but the butler 
was not slow to explain that this was a beggar boy who had 
been caught in the house. 

“ I am not a beggar,” Harry cried breathlessly ; and 
looking up, he saw that the little girl he had run into was 
the same one that he had seen playing in the grounds a 
few minutes before. “ I want to see your father,” he 
added quickly. “ I have found his diamond, but this bad 
man tried to take it from me.” 

At this the butler laid his hand heavily on Harry’s 
shoulder, and tried to pull him away. 

“ Don’t you believe him, Miss Grace,” he said ; “ he is 
a bad boy.” 


50 


Return of the Fairies. 


But little Grace, looking in Harry’s face, could not 
believe that he was bad; and she said to the man, “ Take 
your hands from the boy ; I want to speak to him ; ” then, 
more kindly, to Harry, “ if you have my father’s diamond, 
let me see it, little boy.” 

So Harry opened his hand, and showed the stone lying 
in its palm. Her eyes shone as brightly as the diamond 
itself; and her face was all smiles as she cried, “Yes, yes ; 
that is my father’s diamond ; how pleased he will be ! 
Come with me, little boy ; I will take you to my father.” 

The butler could think of nothing else to say or do ; so 
he stood back looking very angry, while the two children 
passed up the hallway, hand in hand. The little girl took 
Harry from this hall into a far wider and grander one, the 
ceilings of which were very high above his head, and cov- 
ered with beautiful pictures, and into a room where a gentle- 
man sat all alone finishing his breakfast. 

The table was bright with silver and beautifully painted 
china, and the room itself was so grand that Harry was 
more frightened to look about him than he had been even 
at the threats of the butler. But how surprised the gentle- 
man at the table looked when he saw his beautiful little 
daughter leading a barefooted boy with a scratched and 
bruised face ! 

“ What is this, Grace ? ” he said. 

“ He has found your diamond, papa.” 

“ This little chap ? ” exclaimed the gentleman, rising and 
coming toward them. “ It cannot be.” 


Story of the Three Fishes. 51 

“ Show it to him, little boy,” she said. 

So Harry opened his tightly clinched little fist, showing 
the gem in its palm. 

“Yes,” said the gentleman with a pleased smile, “it is 
my diamond. And how did you find it.?” 

“ Oh, it is such a long story !” said Harry; “and I 
had such a hard time getting it to you ; I am so tired.” 

“ And hungry too, perhaps,” said the gentleman. 

“ Oh, yes ! ” cried the little girl ; “ you must be hungry.” 

So she pushed a chair up to the table, and led Harry to 
a seat in it, and served him with the nicest dainties on the 
table. 

But the boy was too excited to eat. He tried two or 
three mouthfuls, and then said, “ I can’t swallow.” 

The gentleman was all smiles and kindness. “ Perhaps 
you would rather tell your story first.” 

So, taking his little daughter on his knee, and looking 
pleasantly across the table to Harry, he asked, “ How did 
you find my diamond? Begin at the beginning, and tell 
me all about it. But first tell me who you are, and who 
are your father and mother.” 

So Harry began by telling him that he had no father or 
mother, but lived with his uncle and his aunt, who did not 
love him very much. He told about the little attic room 
where he slept, and of the rats that frightened him at night. 
He told about his being punished the night before for some- 
thing he had not done, and then about the fairy who stood 
on the window-seat, and said he had been a good little 


Return of the Fairies. 



52 

boy, and that she would show him how to have a pleasanter 
life. 

Now, perhaps Mr. Smith thought that Harry had been 
dreaming about the fairy; but his daughter Grace was not 


Harry Finds Himself a Very Lucky Boy. 

too old to believe in fairies, and she could not take her eyes 
off the little fellow, as he described how beautiful the lady 
looked as she stood on the window-ledge, with her crown 
of gold and jewels, her wings of down and gossamer, her 


Story of the Three Fishes, 53 

robe of gold, and her ivory wand with the diamond set at 
its head. 

Then Harry told of what the fairy had said he should 
do, and how carefully he had obeyed her ; how he had 
thrown back the two wonderful big fishes into the brook 
and been beaten for it ; how he had found the diamond in 
the third fish. The boy then explained how he had learned 
that the diamond belonged to Mr, Smith, and of his rough 
treatment when he tried to return it to the owner, until, 
just as matters were at their worst, little Grace came to 
his rescue. 

But the end of all Harry’s troubles had come. Mr. 
Smith said that such a brave and true and honest little boy 
was just the sort he would like to have always with him. 

“You shall always live with me,” he said, “and all that 
I can do for you I will.” 

So Harry’s soiled clothes were put away, and pretty 
garments were bought for him. He went barefoot no 
more ; he played in the beautiful grounds which he had 
admired so much, with the dear little girl who had been so 
kind to him, and all that was sad and miserable in his life 
was changed. 



STORY OF THE ENCHANTED CAVE. 


Harold Barton was the eldest of several children, and 
his father and mother were very poor. He was but fifteen 
years old, although a very large boy for his age, when one 
morning, his father being absent at his work, his mother 
called him into her room, and began to cry over him and 
kiss him at the same time, while she tried to talk. 

“ What are you saying, mother ? ” said Harold, and 
what are you crying for ? ” 

So his mother tried to dry her eyes, and sitting down 
on a chair, drew her big boy to her lap, and said, “ Dear 
Harold, you know that your father and I are very poor, 
and we have hard work to buy food and clothes for our 
family. You are a big boy, my son, and we must send you 
away from us. Do you suppose that you can go out into 
the world all alone, without your mother’s care ? ” 

Harold was a brave boy, as well as a big one ; and al- 
though he felt very sad at the thought of leaving his dear 
father and mother and brothers and sisters, he stopped the 
little sob in his throat, and replied, “ Why, I ought to be 
big enough, mother. If I can do nothing else, you know 

54 


Story of the Enchanted Cave. 


55 


how well I can shoot with father’s gun. If you will let me 
take that, I am sure that I need not go hungry.” 

“ Your father feels as badly as 1 do to have you go, 
Harold, dear,” she said ; “ but perhaps such a brave big boy 
as you can not only help yourself, but by and by help us 
and your little brothers and sisters also. We will try to 



Harold is Sent Away From Home. 


think of that. Yes, yes, my son; take your father’s gun, 
which I know you can handle so well. Now good-by, mv 
dear. Make haste, before your father comes back, and 


5 ^ 


Return of the Fairies. 


before your little brothers and sisters wonder what I am 
talking to you so long about. I have your clothes all 
ready in a bundle; you know where your father’s gun and 



Harold Sets Out on His Travels. 


powder and shot are. Go quickly, my son, before my heart 
breaks.” 

So it was that Harold went out into the great world to 
seek his fortune, with all his possessions in a bundle tied on 
the end of his gun, which was thrown over his shoulder. 
He did not look around until the turn in the road, where 


Story of the Enchanted Cave. 


57 


he could catch the last glimpse of his home ; then, as he 
looked back, he saw his mother still standing in the door, 
waving her hand to him. 

For several days Harold tramped along the roads, sleep- 
ing at night under such cover as he could find in sheds, and 
sometimes under trees, for the weather was warm. He had 
plenty to eat ; for when he was hungry all he had to do was 
to shoot a bird or a rabbit, and building a fire out of broken 
branches, cook as dainty a meal as a boy could ask for. As 
he passed from town to town, he kept asking those he met 
if they had work for a strong boy to do, but found none. 

One night, after a long tramp through the woods, look- 
ing for some old shed or hut where he could sleep, he came 
to a cave in the side of a hill which he thought might have 
been oneq the den of some wild animal. It was just begin- 
ning to rain, and he was glad of any sort of cover'.’ Being 
very tired, he threw himself down on a pile of leaves, which 
might have been the nest of some wild beast, and was soon 
sound asleep. 

When the morning came,' so much more light poured 
into the entrance of the cave that he could see about him ; 
and, being of a curious disposition, he was not satisfied until 
he had carefully examined the cave on all sides. He had 
about made up his mind that, as long as nobody seemed to 
have any work for him to do, he would make his home here 
during the warm weather ; and he was anxious to find out 
all about his new house. But in one corner of the cave the 
earth seemed much softer than anywhere else ; and, pushing 


58 


Return of the Fairies. 



Harold Sees the Entrance to the Cave. 


his feet down into it, they seemed to sink into an opening 
below. It looked as if there must be another cave behind, 
with which this connected ; and Harold lost no time in 
falling upon his knees, and digging the earth out with 
his hands, like a squirrel. 

Very soon he had an opening large enough to admit his 
body, and crawled into a hole. It was entirely dark, but 
as he crept along, he found the space about and above him 
enlarge, until very soon he could stand upright ; and, after 
groping his way for what seemed to him a long time, it 


Story of the Enchanted Cave. 


59 


began to get lighter in the queer passage that he had dis- 
covered, and then he could make his way much faster. He 
was sure such a channel as this must lead to some place 
worth visiting; and as there was nothing at the beginning 
of the channel which he wanted to see any more of, he 
thought he could lose nothing by going ahead. 

The light grew clearer and clearer, showing that the end 
was at hand. In a few steps more he leaped out into an 
open space, which could hardly be called a room, although 
it was very different from any cave that he had ever 
heard of. The rock overhead had been made almost as 
smooth as the ceiling of a room, and the different minerals 
which nature had put there glistened very brightly. The 
side walls were straight and smooth, except for several deep 
cracks, and were polished for quite a way up from the floor. 
The floor itself was covered with thick rugs of soft colors. 
He looked about to find what made the light, since no 
sunlight could enter such a cavern as this. He then saw 
that the light all came from a large number of queer little 
cups, on the top of which lighted wicks floated. He had 
seen pictures of jiist such lamps, which had been in use in 
the world thousands of years ago. 

The room had no person in it when he^^pntered; but 
there were various signs that not very long ago somebody 
had been there, and he thought it must have been a woman 
from the number of pillows and queer-looking musical in- 
struments which he saw strewn about. But there was no 
such thing as a table in the room, or a chair ; and he made 


6o 


Return of the Fairies. 


up his mind that anybody that lived there must be in the 
habit of sitting on the floor. Then he heard a soft rus- 
tling noise at an opening in the other side of the room, and 
a young girl came in. He had no time to notice more 



Harold Midway in the Tunnel. 


than that she was dressed as he had never before seen 
a girl dressed, and that she looked to be not far from his 
own age ; for the moment that she saw him she gave a loud 
cry, and if she had not seemed to be such a healthy young 
woman, he would have expected to see her faint away. 


Story of the Enchanted Cave. 


6i 


Of course she spoke first, but in such a language as he 
had never heard before. The words seemed to run very 
close together, although, for that matter, he had noticed 



Harold Sees the Princess. 


the same habit in the talk of the girls he had known be- 
fore; but in a strange language it seems as if the words run 
all together. He listened as best he could, trying if he might 
not catch one word which he had ever heard before, and 
discovered the familiar “ Oh ! ” and “ Ah ! ” which showed 
that the girl was very much excited as well as frightened. 


62 


Return of the Fairies. 


It was quite a while before she stopped her flow of 
words, and then she seemed to want to hear from him ; 
and Harold, taking warning from her rapidity of speech, 
tried to speak very slowly, saying, “ This is a very funny 
house that you have here. I hope I am not in the way. 
Do you want me to go away ? ” 

He could see that the girl could not understand his 
words any better than he had understood hers ; but when he 
made a motion toward the opening through which he had 
come, then she seemed to see that he was offering to leave 
her, and the idea seemed to strike her very favorably. She 
crossed quickly to where he stood, and taking him by the 
arm, gently pushed him toward the door through which he 
had come, if it could be called a door. 

Now, Harold was a very polite young fellow, and did 
not want to stay where he was not wanted ; and, although 
he felt very unwilling to leave so strange a place without 
knowing more about it, and, although the more he remem- 
bered of the outside world the less pleasant did it seem to 
him, yet he made up his mind to go. 

But before he had gone more than three or four steps 
her hand tightened on his arm, and she stopped him. It 
seems that young ladies, even in the middle of the earth, 
have a habit of changing their minds. She drew him back 
towards the centre of the room again, still talking as fast as 
human tongue could go. As long as Harold could not 
understand a word she was saying, he made the best of his 
chance to look a little closer at his new friend. Instead of 


Story of the Enchanted Cave. 


63 


shoes she wore pieces of leather just covering the soles of 
her feet, and held in place by cords. Her ankles were 
bare. She wore a long flowing garment, caught loosely a 
little above her waist; there were no sleeves on it, but 
her arms were ornamented with beautiful gold bracelets. 
Her hair fell in ringlets, and was held away from her fore- 
head by a very pretty band. She had beautiful brown eyes; 
and, although her cheeks were anything but rosy, they 
were as clear as marble. 

By the time he had finished looking her over, the 
young lady had stopped talking, and was waiting for him 
to say something else that she could not understand. 

Harold saw it did not make much difference what he 
said; but since he seemed to be expected to say something, 
he remarked, “ What a beautiful dress you have, and what 
a nice little girl you are ! I only wish we talked the same 
way, so that we could understand each other.” Then Har- 
old smiled ; and a smile being the same in all languages, his 
new friend was not slow to understand that. 

Reaching out her hand, she took his, and seemed to be 
asking him to sit down. Being a very accommodating boy, 
he was about to drop down on the floor, when she set him 
an example by taking possession of one of the cushions, 
and, drawing another near her, touched it with her hand, 
and smiled at him ; and a very sweet smile the little girl 
had. 

If they were to get along at all together, Harold saw 
that the first necessity was to know what to call each other, 


64 


Return of the Fairies. 


So, seeing how useful signs had been so far, he pointed 
pleasantly to himself, and said, “ Harold.” 

She smiled again, and seemed to understand him, and 
tried to say his name over after him. After two or three 
trials she succeeded pretty well. Then she pointed to her- 



Harold and Alice Getting Acquainted. 


self, and said a word which Harold concluded was her 
name. But it was not so easy to pronounce as his, at least 
for him, and the nearest he could get to it was “ Alice.” 


Story of the Enchanted Cave. 65 

She seemed very much amused at his failure to pronounce 
her name aright, and tried to say it after him the way he 
did. It seemed settled at last that they should call each 
other Harold and Alice. 

Then an idea seemed to strike Alice ; and after another 
of her little speeches, which meant something in her own 
language, but meant nothing to Harold, she ran out of the 
room, only to return shortly with a large platter covered 
with nice things to eat. There was some cold meat, — 
lamb, Harold thought it must be, — some kind of queer- 
looking vegetable which he had never seen before, some- 
thing which looked a little like bread, and a cup of milk. 
There was no doubt about the milk. 

Harold, having had nothing to eat since noon of the 
day before, was very hungry ; and, as Alice seemed to enjoy 
watching him, he kept on eating until the platter was clean. 
Then for the first time he noticed that the dishes were of 
pure gold ; and he began to think that perhaps the fortune 
which kad looked so far away yesterday might be close at 
hand after all. He had apparently made the acquaintance 
of an heiress. 

He had hardly finished his meal, however, when he 
heard a noise like a very heavy tread. Alice heard it too, 
and looking much frightened, caught him quickly by the 
arm, and led him once more toward the opening through 
which he had come. But this time Harold was not nearly 
so willing to go, and he hung back, heedless of her beseech- 
ing looks and excited words. At last, giving up the idea 


66 


Return of the Fairies. 


of getting him out by the way he had come, she drew him 
hastily across the room and up the passage through which 
she herself had entered ; and, when they had reached a very 
dark opening in the rocky wall of the cavern, she pushed 
him hastily into it, saying words which no doubt meant, 
“ Stay there, or you will be sorry for it.” 

Then she ran quickly back into the larger room, leav- 
ing him to himself. For a minute after she had gone 
everything looked very dark to Harold in his retreat ; then 
he noticed in one side of the room or den, whichever one 
might call it, a little glimmer of light ; and making his way 
very carefully to it, he found the light came through a deep 
crack in the solid rock, through which he could see into the 
large room to which Alice had returned. 

The sound of approaching footsteps grew louder and 
louder. He felt for his gun, and made certain that it was 
ready for use if necessary. Then he looked again. He 
could see Alice standing in the middle of the room, with 
both hands pressed tightly on her bosom, just as he had 
seen his mother when anything was going very wrong, with 
her face turned in the direction from which the sound, 
growing louder every moment, seemed to come. He was 
more sorry for Alice than anxious for himself Suddenly 
the little girl appeared to think of a better plan ; and she 
had just time to throw herself on one of the cushions, when 
a great form stood in one corner of the room. 

Harold had read about giants ; but he had not supposed 
they were such terrible things to look at until he saw this 


Story of the Enchanted Cave. 67 

enormous man, almost twice as large as his father, with great 
legs like the pillars of a house, and arms like the branches 
of an oak-tree. His face was covered with a long beard ; 
he wore a strange peaked hat, and his clothes seemed to be 
made of leather. His legs were bare below the knee, and 
on his feet he wore the same sort of queer things that he 
had seen on Alice’s little feet. Harold waited nervously to 
hear the giant’s voice, but to his relief it was not at all 
gruff, although it seemed to fill the whole room like the 
bass notes of an organ. He spoke in the same strange 
language which Alice had used, and, from his manner, 
Harold supposed that he said, “How do you do?” or 
some such thing. 

It was long afterwards before Harold learned the lan- 
guage which seemed so strange to him now, but there is no 
reason for us to wait as long as Harold had to, so I will 
give the talk of the giant and Alice as it took place. 

“ Ah, my little one ! ” said the giant ; “ have you been 
lonesome while I was away ? ” 

“ Why, no,” she said, her voice still trembling with 
excitement. “ I did not think you had been gone very 
long.” 

“ Not gone very long ! ” he answered. “ Why, it was 
early morning when I went away, and it is afternoon now. 
But you seem excited, my dear ; what has happened to 
you ? ” 

“ Oh, nothing,” she said hurriedly. “ Oh, nothing at 
all ! ” 


68 


Return of the Fairies, 


The giant looked about the room and then back at her. 
“The room is turned topsy-turvy,” he said, “as if you 
had been playing some game.” 


The Giant Comes in. 



“ Oh, yes ! ” she cried, trying to laugh ; “ I have been 
trying to amuse myself” 

“ And been eating, too,” said the giant, looking at the 
plates and dishes. “You did not wait for me.” 

“ Oh, no ! I was so hungry.” 


Story of the Enchanted Cave. 69 

“ Well, well,” he said, throwing himself down on a 
long row of cushions, lying in one corner, “ I am hungry, 
too. Bring me what there is to eat.” 

Then Alice hurried along the passageway, past the little 
den where Harold was watching. He crept to the door, 
hoping that she would speak to him as she passed, but she 
only put her finger to her lips, and, as the light fell on her 
face, he saw that she looked more frightened than ever. 
Soon she returned, bearing another gold platter in her 
hands, heaped high with some such food as Harold had so 
much enjoyed, but enough it seemed to him for a whole 
family at least. 

Much as there was, the giant did not seem to have 
enough, and, after drinking six great cups of milk, he called 
for more. 

“ There is no more,” said Alice. 

When Harold saw the giant hold out his empty cup, he 
knew that he was asking for more milk, and he remembered 
that, having been very thirsty himself, he had made Alice 
fill his cup for him — a much smaller one, of course — 
half a doz^n times before he was satisfied. 

“No more milk ! ” exclaimed the giant, more gruffly. 
“ But I am sure there was more than this in the cave.” 

“ I was so thirsty,” whimpered Alice, tears of fright 
running down her face. 

“ And a little thing like you drank up all that milk ! ” 
he said ; “ you must have spilled it.” 

Now Alice, not having had the best of bringing up, 


70 


Return of the Fairies. 


thought it no harm to tell lies. “Yes,” she said, “ I did spill 
it ; and I was afraid you would be angry.” 

“Well, never mind,” he said; “ I will take a nap now.” 

And, rolling over on his pillows, in a few moments he 
was sound asleep. Harold’s father had a bad habit of snor- 
ing, which had always caused his wife a great deal of distress, 
and no little complaint in the family, but such snoring as 
this the boy had not supposed possible. It almost seemed 
to shake the mountain over the cavern. But for all that, 
Harold found no fault. It was a great relief to him to 
have such good proof that the giant was out of the way of 
doing any mischief for a little while at least. 

Like most boys of his age, he was somewhat reckless ; 
and no sooner was the giant asleep than Harold made his 
way out of his little den, back through the corridor, and 
suddenly stood before the very eyes of Alice, who, for a 
moment, looked too frightened to speak. 

But little girls, like big ones, admire courage, and, after 
a few whispered words, which he supposed to be in the 
nature of a scolding, she stole another glance at the giant, 
to be certain that he was sound asleep, and taking Harold’s 
hand, led him back along the corridor to another room quite 
a way off. When they had reached this place she began a 
long speech to him, not a word of which he could under- 
stand, which he answered with one not quite as long, which 
she could not understand any better. 

Alice was a quick-witted little girl, and she saw at once 
that they must learn each other’s language, and the sooner 


Story of the Enchanted Cave. 71 

the work was begun the better. So, laying her hand on a 
cushion, she said some words which, in her language, meant 
“cushion,” and Harold tried to say it after her. Then 
he put his hand on the cushion, and gave its name in 



j. he (jiant Takes His After Dinner Nap. 


his language. After knowing each other for several hours, 
these two young people had at last learned three words 
which they could both understand. Then Alice went on, 
putting her hand on various objects in the room, giving 
the names in her language ; and, after Harold had repeated 


72 


Return of the Fairies. 


them, he gave the names of the same things in his lan- 
guage, and she said them over after him. 

Time went very fast, for the lesson was much more 
pleasant than any that Harold had ever had at school, when 
the sound of the heavy tread of the giant was again heard, 
this time at the head of the corridor. But Alice had been 
expecting it, and had already shown the boy a nice place to 
hide, behind a pile of skins which lay in one corner. So, 
by the time the giant entered the room, Alice appeared to 
be very busy putting things in order. The giant did not 
stay long. It seemed he only came to tell her that he 
was going out to work again. 

No sooner had he gone than the lessons were resumed, 
and Alice’s work was put off until some other time. When 
it grew late, she told the boy to take a pile of the lamb- 
skins, all covered with wool o.n one side, and make a soft 
bed for himself in the little den where she had first put 
him. She then handed him another platter filled with 
things to eat, but was careful this time to give him water 
instead of milk, and when the giant came back again Harold 
was sound asleep, although fortunately he did not snore, and 
Alice was busy getting the giant’s supper for him, as she 
had done so many times before. 

The next day everything was arranged very nicely. 
Harold’s breakfast was waiting for him as soon as the giant 
went out ; and, after a morning spent with Alice in studying, 
he had plenty of time to eat a comfortable dinner before 
the giant, whose name he found to be Dor, came for his 


Story of the Enchanted Cave. 


73 


meal. While Dor was taking his after-dinner nap, the 
lessons were resumed again, being only interrupted when 
he came to announce that he was going back to his work. 

So it went on from day to day, and from week to week, 
and month to month. Harold had never had such a nice 
time in his life before, and both he and Alice seemed to 
have quite gotten over any fear of the terrible things which 
might happen if the giant should find the boy. They had 
both learned enough of each other’s language so that they 
could begin to talk together a little. But it was only long 
afterwards that Harold understood all about the strange 
history of Dor and Alice. 

It seemed that, many thousands of years before, Alice 
was a little girl, the daughter of a great king. Dor thought 
a great deal of the child, and finally asked the king to 
promise her to him for his wife when she should grow up. 
The king became very angry, and told the giant that if he 
ever came ' into the palace again he would be killed. But 
Dor was a very determined giant, and, since the king 
refused him so scornfully for a son-in-law, he determined 
to steal the little girl away, and keep her until she should 
be old enough to be married. So one day, when Alice 
was playing in^the grounds about the palace with no one 
watching, he rushed in quickly, and, catching her in his 
arms, hurried away with her. 

Now, Alice had known the giant ever since she was a 
baby, and, as he had always been kind to her, and often 
carried her on his back, she liked him very much ; so when 


74 


Return of the Fairies. 


he took her up this afternoon and ran away with her, she 
thought it was part of a joke, and instead of crying out, she 
only laughed and enjoyed it. 

But, as the giant kept on running, covering miles very 
fast with his long legs, she began to get frightened, and 
asked to go home. Then Dor told her a falsehood, about 
taking her to some beautiful place where her aunt wanted 
to see her. The giant well knew that Alice’s father would 
follow him with all his army, so he hardly stopped to 
breathe until he came to the shore of a great sea. There a 
ship was waiting for him, with sailors whom he had hired 
with a great deal of money. The ship sailed many days 
and weeks before it came to land. Alice, you may be sure, 
was glad to see the green earth once more; but she knew 
now that she would never see her home again, as the giant 
had told her that he had taken her away to keep her until 
she had grown up, when she must be his wife. 

Whatever happened to the ship and the sailors Alice 
never knew, but the next morning after she had landed 
there was no ship in sight. Then the giant took her 
through this strange new country, killing animals for their 
food as he went, or taking what he chose from the wild 
people whom they met. She often asked him where they 
were going. 

“ On ! on ! ” was all he said, until one day they came to 
a sort of cave in the side of a hill, and, going in there out 
of reach of the storm which was driving outside, they found 
it was only the entrance to a long passageway in the side of 


Story of the Enchanted Cave. 


75 


the hill, and at the end were pleasant rooms cut out of the 
solid rock, and full of beautiful things. She thought it 
must have been the home of some wonderful magician, who 
had laid a spell upon it, since, although they had been 
there so many thousands of years, the giant had seemed to 
grow no older, nor had she, than either was the first day 
that they came in there, and even the clothes they wore did 
not wear out. The giant was rather stupid, and did not 
seem to notice the years as they went by, nor to wonder 
that this little girl whom he had taken away from her home 
so long, long ago, did not grow nor come any nearer to 
the time when she could become his wife. 

One day, after Harold and ’Alice had learned each 
other’s language so well that they could make themselves 
understood, he said he was going to see where the giant 
went every morning after breakfast. So, taking his gun 
in his hand, he started after Dor, keeping near enough so 
that he would not miss him in the winding channel, but far 
enough away so that if the giant looked back he could not 
see that he was being followed. 

It was not a short walk, and Harold had been so long 
without any exercise that he became very tired before a 
light, different from anything which he had seen in the en- 
chanted cave, began to shine dimly ahead. Then the heavy 
steps of Dor ceased to echo in the passageway, and Harold 
knew that he must have passed out into an open space. 
Following cautiously, the boy saw, to his great surprise, 
that Dor had stepped out into a little valley, which lay very 


76 


Return of the Fairies. 


low between high mountains, where there was a garden, 
with fruits and vegetables growing, while near by a flock of 
sheep and half a dozen cattle were eating grass. Standing 
a little back in the shadow of the passageway, so that .he 
could not be seen, Harold watched Dor going about his 
morning’s work, weeding the garden with a strange-looking 
hoe, and milking the cows. Then he saw him call one of 
the little lambs, and kill and skin it, and cut the meat up 
into pieces convenient to carry. 

The giant seemed to be getting ready to return with his 
load, so the boy waited no longer, but made his own way 
back to the cave as fast as possible. 

Harold found Alice waiting by the door, peering eagerly 
up the passage, and listening for the sound of footsteps. 
She seemed very glad to see him, but was too wise and kind 
a little girl to put him in any danger by asking questions 
then, and only hurried the boy quickly into his own little 
den, as the steps of the giant could be heard approaching 
very rapidly down the passageway. 

But when the giant took his afternoon nap, Alice lost 
no time in leading Harold out into the kitchen, and asking 
him questions much faster than he could answer them. 
Poor little girl ! Shut up in this cave for so many thou- 
sands of years, with nothing to think of, and nothing to in- 
quire about ! You may guess how interested she was in the 
wonderful things which Harold told her about the giant’s 
trip, and how he had passed the forenoon. 

No sooner had Dor arisen from his nap the next after- 


Story -of the Enchanted Cave. 77 

noon, and started in another direction for what he called his 
work, than Harold again followed him' This journey was 
not so long as the other, and there was no daylight at the 
other end of it, either. 

After the giant had walked a little way in the dark he 
stopped, and taking one of the strange-looking lamps from 



The Giant in His Treasure Chamber. 


a niche in the rocky wall, lighted it. Harold stopped when 
Dor stopped, and when Dor started again the boy started 
after him, but more carefully. He did not want to get too 



78 


Return of the Fairies. 


near to the giant, but, on the other hand, he was afraid lest 
he might lose his way entirely. At several of the sharp 
turns in the winding corridor the giant would certainly have 
seen the boy if he had thought to look behind. Harold 
concluded that Dor had been so long without visitors 
in his wonderful cavern that he had almost forgotten .there 
could be any one else in the whole world but just himself 
and little Alice. 

At last the giant came to a room cut out of the solid 
rock, but with the same queer cracks in the side which 
the boy had noticed in the other rooms. He lighted a 
score of lamps, until the room was as light as day ; and 
Harold then saw something which made his eyes almost 
jump out of his head. In the middle of the room were two 
piles of glistening diamonds, rubies, pearls, and sapphires, 
sparkling like stars. One pile was very large, the other 
much smaller. But in the smaller pile were gems enough 
to make every woman in the world happy. On a side wall 
were strange marks, which the boy afterwards understood 
were put there by Dor as he worked. 

Then the giant began his task, which Harold thought 
must be a very pleasant one. It was nothing but* taking 
the jewels from the big pile, and putting them on the smaller 
one, counting them as he did so. The figures on the wall 
were made by the giant as he counted. Harold did not 
dare to wait an instant after the giant arose from his work, 
although he was almost wild with excitement and curiosity, 
but, turning about, swiftly made his way back, and, passing 


Story of the Enchanted Cave. 


79 


Alice with only a quick, “ Hush ! ” rushed into his own 
little den and lay very still. 

Almost at once the giant came in with a strange look on 
his face. “ I am sure I heard a noise. Have you been out 
this way, Alice ? ” 

“ Oh, no ! ” she said. “ I have only been into the 
kitchen. I never dare to come after you.” 

“ But I am sure I heard a footstep,” he whispered 
hoarsely. 

“It must have been the echo,” suggested Alice. 

“ It wasn’t as loud as an echo of my footsteps, but was 
more like the patter of a girl or a boy,” answered Dor. 

Alice did not know what to say, but looked very much 
frightened. The giant naturally concluded that she was as 
much afraid as he of an intruder, and had not the slightest 
suspicion that she knew anything more about those myste- 
rious footsteps than he did. He was a kind-hearted giant, 
too, and when he saw her terror he forgot all about his own 
fears, and did his best to comfort her, in his own clumsy 
fashion, saying that very likely he was mistaken, for surely 
no one could have come along the passageway without her 
seeing him, which was very true. 

“If you hear any more sounds,” he said, “ or see any- 
thing.that looks as if some one from the outside world has 
been down, you must let me know.” 

Then she set his supper before him, and, after eating 
everything in sight, as usual, he began to tell her about the 
people in the outside world. 


8o 


Return of the Fairies. 


“ They are very bad people,” he said, “ and if they ever 
came in here they would take away from us all we have to 
eat and wear, all our gold and jewels, and drive us out to 
starve.” 

“ It is a miserable place outside,” he added. “ I re- 
member it very well, although you were only a little girl 
when we left it, and have probably forgotten all about it. 
It is either too hot or too cold there all the time, very few 
people have enough to eat or to wear, and everybody is 
always trving to hurt everybody else. This is the only 
place to live in happiness, my dear. Now, if you would 
only grow up, so that we could be married. I don’t see 
why it takes you so long. As I think of it, you look just 
as young now as you did when I brought you here, so very 
long ago. I don’t understand it at all.” 

But Dor was a stupid giant, and, although he could lift 
very heavy weights, and twist a piece of iron as if it were 
lead pipe, or take a man under each arm and run a mile 
with him, if necessary, any child of ten years old, who had 
been to school, was better at thinking than he. So he very 
quickly grew tired of using his brains, and, saying it must 
be bedtime, threw himself on his cushions and went to 
sleep. 

But Alice could hardly sleep at all that night, for-won- 
der at what Dor had told her of the outside world, which 
she remembered very little about. No sooner had he gone 
in the morning than Harold came out of his little den, and, 
almost as soon as the boy had finished his breakfast, she 


Story of the Enchanted Cave. 8i 

made him tell her everything he could about the sort of 
people that lived in the world which was above them, and 
whether it was really all as bad as Dor had said. 

Harold did not know exactly where to begin, but he 
told her about himself and his own home, and how poor his 
father and mother were, and how hard it was for them to 
get enough to eat and to wear. 

“ Then Dor is right,” she said. “It is far better down 
here.” 

But then he told her about the wonderful sun which 
shone by day, which she had forgotten all about, it had 
been so many thousands of years since she had seen it. 
He tried to describe the beautiful trees and flowers, and 
lovely green meadows, the silvery rivers, the blue waves of 
the ocean, the fleecy clouds, the bright stars and the moon 
which shone at night. Then he told of the birds which 
sang in the trees, the animals that roamed over the fields, 
the beautiful houses and the wonderful things which they 
contained. 

He explained to her, too, that in the outside world 
little girls grew to be women, and boys to be men, and that, 
although there was much trouble and care and pain, yet the 
true and the brave did not usually come to harm. 

“ Oh, I am sure I would like it ! ” she cried. “ Can’t 
you take me out ? ” 

Then Harold answered : “ I have been thinking very 
hard since yesterday, and I mean to take you away from 
this enchanted cave, and lead you home to my parents.” 


Return of the Fairies.’ 


“ Oh, how happy I shall be ! ” she said, and clapped 
her hands. 

“ Yes,” answered the boy, “ but we must not go empty 
handed. My parents were too poor to take care of me 
alone; they can hardly provide for two of us.” 

“What shall we do, then?” she asked, clasping her 
hands over her bosom again after her fashion. 

“ Why, my dear Alice,” he answered, “ I now know 
where there are heaps of jewels, and if I can only take one 
little bag of them, we can go out and be happy ever after.” 

“ But how can we escape ? ” she asked eagerly. 

“ There are only two ways that I can think of,” he re- 
plied. “ One is to drive the giant out, and the other is to 
kill him.” 

“ Kill him ! ” she exclaimed. “ What is that ? ” 

And again Harold did not know how to explain to her. 
Living in an enchanted cave, where one never even grew old, 
the child had no idea what death meant. He kept silent 
for some minutes, while he tried to think how to explain it 
to her. 

“ I could kill him,” he finally answered, “ by shooting 
him with this gun. In the gun is a bullet, a round ball, 
which, when I pull the trigger, will go out of the gun so 
fast that if it struck him in the heart or in the head he 
would fall over and become just like a piece of this rock, 
and would never get up again.” 

“ But I should hate to have him hurt,” she said sadly. 
“He has been kind to me.” 


Story of the Enchanted Cave. 83 

“ You must make clothes that will cover your arms and 
your ankles and your feet, so that you will not be cold, and 
so that people will not stare too curiously at you when you 
go outside. How long will it take you to do that } ” 

“ You must first tell me what to do,” she said. 

So Harold tried to tell her something about the sort of 
clothes which girls wore in the outside world, and, being a 
very bright little girl, she understood quickly what he 
meant. 

“ I will begin at once,” she answered. “ Perhaps in 
two or three days I shall be ready.” 

It was then almost time for the giant to return, so the 
boy retired to his little den and waited until afternoon be- 
fore carrying out his plans. When the giant had again 
started for his afternoon’s work, Harold left Alice to her 
new task, and made his way slowly back along the corridor 
through which he had come, to the entrance, clearing away 
pieces of rock and rubbish as he passed along, and trying 
to make the passage large enough for even the giant to pass 
through. When he reached the little nest where he had 
slept that night, months ago, so cold and hungry, he could 
hardly believe the wonderful things that had happened 
since. Spending the night there, he began slowly to work 
his way back, and you may well believe that Alice was very 
glad to see him again. When he told her where he had 
been, and what he had been doing, she was so excited that 
her cheeks became almost rosy, for once. 

“ It will take me several days yet,” he said, “ to make 


84 


Return of the Fairies. 


the passage large enough for the giant to get out, for that 
is the way that I want to drive him.” 

“ But how will you drive him ? He is so large. He 
is much stronger and bigger than you.” 

“ I will tell you bye and bye. My work in the passage 
is not finished ; but this time,” he said, ‘‘ I shall be gone 
two or three days, so give me enough food to last.” 

Before Harold came back again he had made the chan- 
nel wide enough and tall enough for the giant to pass 
through. When he returned he found Alice had finished 
her clothing, according to the ideas which he had given her, 
and when she put it on and waited for him to praise her, he 
told her that she was a wonderful girl. There was only a 
short time left before the giant might be expected to return 
for his midday meal, and Harold hurried to explain to 
Alice what to do next. 

“ When the giant comes,” he said, “ you must tell him 
that some one has come from the outside world. He will 
want to know where he is, so that he can kill him. But 
you must say to him that this person who has come has a 
magic piece of iron with him, from which fire pours out 
when he says the word, and a ball goes to just the point he 
orders, and that no one, no matter how big a giant, can 
stand before him. He will tell you he does not believe it, 
but you- must say that the person who has come does hot 
want to kill him unless he has to, and that he says he will 
first show what the magic bar of iron will do. And if Dor 
does not then believe it, he must die. If he should be 


Story of the Enchanted Cave. 85 

satisfied that the gun will kill him, he must then promise 
to go out of the cave right away, and to never come back.” 

Alice was very much frightened at the message which 
had been given her, but, carefully taking off her new clothes. 



Alice in Her New Fashioned Clothes. 


and putting on her old ones again, she waited listening for 
the footsteps of the giant, while Harold, after looking care- 
fully at his gun, to see that it was all right, went back to his 
little den, waiting for the moment to arrive which should 
settle everything. 



86 


Return of the Fairies. 


Then the resounding tread of Dor was heard along the 
passageway, and in a moment more his enormous form 
stood in the room. Alice was trembling in every limb. 

“ You said I must tell you,” she began, “ when any per- 
son from the outside world came.” 

“ Yes, yes ! ” he cried ; “ and what have you to say? ” 

“ Some one has come,” she answered. 

“ Where is he ? Where is he ? ” And, catching a great 
bar of iron from the side of the wall, he looked fiercely 
about him for the intruder. 

“ Let me explain first,” she said. “ He is a wonderful 
magician, and it is of no use for you to fight against him 
with your bar of iron, for he has a bar of iron far mightier 
than yours.” 

“Is he a giant too,” asked Dor, hesitating; “and 
larger than I ? ” 

“ No. No.” 

“ Where is he, then,” cried the giant, “ that I may 
crush him to powder ? ” 

“ Ah, Dor ! but the magic bar of iron which he has 
with him is one that he does not have to swing in the air, 
but simply points, and fire comes out from it at a word, and 
you fall dead before him.” 

“ And did. he tell you this ? ” cried Dor. “It is 
a lie,” 

“Wait,” said Alice, “until I tell you more. He is 
kind, as well as powerful, and does not want to kill you 
if you will go away out of the cave in peace.” 


Story of the Enchanted Cave. 87 


“ Away out of my own cave,” shouted Dor, “ and leave 
you here to him ? I will never do it.” 

“ Then he will have to kill you.” 



Harold About to Shoot. 


“ But he cannot kill me,” answered the giant boastfully. 
“ I could fight a hundred little men. Where is he? ” 

“ Wait ! ” she cried again. “ When I say the word he 
will come forth and show you the power of his wonderful 
bar of iron, and you shall see what it will do.” 

Now, the giant was afraid of magic, for in the old time 



Return of the Fairies. 


when he was on the earth there was much more talk of it 
than there is nowadays ; so he said at last, “ If he is a 
magician there is of course no use to fight against him. 
Let us see his wonderful bar of iron, and what he can do 
with it.” 

At this Harold came out of his little den, and stood in 
the doorway with his gun in his hand. Alice had arranged 
a lamp close by the giant’s side, on a niche in the rock, and 
Harold, raising his gun, aimed at the lamp. The boy had 
told her just what to say to the giant, who had already 
grasped his iron bar in his hand, and made as if to rush on 
Harold. “He will show you,” cried Alice, “that he can 
point his bar of iron at that lamp, and, at a word, the fire 
will pour out of his bar, and the lamp will be shattered into 
pieces. Shall he say the word ? ” 

“Yes,” said the giant, “let him say the word.” 

So the boy called at the top of his voice, although his 
voice sounded almost like a whisper compared with that 
of Dor in his wrath, “Now!” and, pulling the trigger, 
the fire and smoke poured from the muzzle, and the lamp 
was shattered into pieces as it stood right by the giant’s 
head. 

Quickly slipping another cartridge into its place, Harold 
turned the gun and pointed it at the giant. “ Ask him,” 
said Harold, “ whether I shall kill him, or will he go ? ” 

But the giant only gave one frightened glance at the 
weapon pointed at him, and, throwing his bar of iron on 
the floor, shouted in a loud voice, “ Which way ? I have 


Story of the Enchanted Cave. 89 

forgotten ! ” Harold pointed to the passage which he had 
prepared. Rushing to its entrance, Dor paused a moment 
to cast one look at Alice. 

“ And shall I never see you again ? ” he asked. 

“Tell him, ‘perhaps,’ ” said the boy. 

“ Perhaps you may,” she answered softly, almost sorry 
for old Dor. Then the giant hesitated, and made as if to 
leap at Harold again, but the boy was not willing to take 
any chances, and, aiming at another lamp which stood 
at the entrance to the passageway, he once more pulled the 
trigger, the flame poured forth again, and that lamp too 
was shattered. 

The giant hesitated no longer, but rushed out and along 
the corridor like a whirlwind. 

“ Now, put on your new clothes quickly,” said Harold, 
“ while I go and collect as many jewels as we can take with 
us.” 

It was a half hour before Harold came back with a bag 
filled from the pile of gems in the little treasure chamber, 
and then, hand in hand, leaving the lamps still burning in 
the cave, the two children started out through the passage- 
way along which the giant had gone a little while before 
them. 

They had taken only a few steps when a loud rumbling 
was heard behind, and Alice, looking around in terror, 
clung closely to Harold, and they both stopped for an 
instant. 

“ The hill must be settling down on the cavern,” he 


90 


Return of the Fairies. 


said. “ You remember those great cracks ? We came out 
none too soon.” 

They waited no longer, for the noise grew louder and 
louder, until it became almost deafening, and, as Harold 
glanced back, he saw the lights in the cave go out. This 



The Giant Consents to Go. 


showed that the hill had settled down into the very room 
where they had been standing a few seconds before. 

Taking a firmer hold of the hand of the trembling girl, 
he ran along still faster, fairly dragging her after him, and 


Story of the Enchanted Cave. 91 

even then the rocks fell so quickly behind them that no 
sooner had they taken a step forward than some pieces of 
broken rock dropped in their footprints, and, as they burst 
through at last into the outer cave, the opening through 
which they had come was closed almost as soon as they had 
passed through it. 

They did not stop a moment in the outside cave, but hur- 
ried into the woods. Then Alice could stand no longer, 
but sank, almost fainting, beneath the nearest tree, and 
Harold, bold and strong a boy as he was, trembled in 
every limb. 

It was indeed a narrow escape they h^d had. If the 
giant had been near at the time, he would have felt like 
thanking Harold for driving him away from the cave, 
which, if they had remained there only a few moments 
longer, would have been their common tomb. 

The boy and girl rested under the tree for quite a time, 
listening to the terrible rumblings underneath the hill, 
hardly daring to think how nearly they had been buried 
inside of it. But soon the rumblings ceased, and, the chil- 
dren recovering from their terror and fatigue, Alice began 
asking questions about the wonderful things which she saw 
about her, so different from anything she had known in her 
life in the cave ; and Harold did his best to answer her 
questions about the trees, the wild flowers, the green grass, 
the blue sky, the birds, the sunlight, and the brooks. 

“But we must hurry on,” he said. “We have very 
far to go before we reach my mother.” 


92 


Return of the Fairies. 


Soon they came into a village, where Alice saw no end 
of people, and was so much astonished that she could not 
speak. Harold asked the way to his old home, and when 
he was told how far away it was, and he looked at his 
delicate companion, he knew that she could not stand so 
long a walk. Then he remembered the jewels which he 
had about him, and it came over him that there was no 
need for them to walk when tired, or to do any disagree- 
able thing again as long as they lived. A small gem was 
sufficient to hire a very nice carriage for them both, and to 
buy plenty of food for their journey, and they started on 
what Alice always remembered afterward as the loveliest 
trip of her life. 

Everything was new, everything seemed beautiful to 
Alice. The brave boy who had saved her was by her side ; 
she had no fear for the future, and all her long past seemed 
like an almost forgotten dream to her. 

At last the carriage drew near a little cottage, the poor- 
est in a whole village, and, after Harold had helped Alice 
out, the two children walked up the well-worn path to the 
home where Harold was born. 

He had hardly put his foot on the step, when the door 
swung open, and his mother rushed to meet him. She 
took her son in her arms, and hugged him as if she would 
never let him go. Tears of joy ran down her cheeks, while 
she vainly tried to ask questions which no one could under- 
stand, and which she gave him no time to answer. 

At last she seemed to notice that a pretty little girl was 


Story of the Enchanted Cave. 


93 


standing by him, smiling sweetly, and as much interested 
in the meeting as if it were herself who was being hugged 
and kissed. 



Alice Takes Her First Carriage Ride. 


“ And who is this, my son ? ” she said. 

“ This is Alice,” Harold answered, “ my new friend ; 
and whom I want you to take as your daughter.” 

“ What a dear little girl ! ” cried his mother, kissing 
her. “And where did you find her, my son ? ” 

“ It is a long story, mother,” he said. “ After we are 


94 Return of the Fairies. 

rested I will tell you. We have travelled a long way 
to-day.” 

Then she took them inside the little house, and, seating 
them both on a bench, bustled about to find something for 
them to eat. 



Harold and Alice Welcomed Home. 


And all his brothers and sisters came hurrying in, and 
all had to hug their brother, and kiss their new sister, and 
ask hundreds of questions which there was no chance to 
answer. 


Story of the Enchanted Cave. 


95 


But while his mother had been out of the room, she 
had had a chance to think, and to wonder where the food 
was coming from to feed her hungry boy who had returned, 
to say nothing of the little girl whom he had brought with 
him. As she remembered the clothes that they both wore, 
she saw no signs of any fortune, and it was a very sor- 
rowful woman that she was as she came back to them 
again. 

“ There is nothing in the house to eat,” she said, “ even 
for us, to say nothing of Harold and this dear little girl. 
What a sad home-coming this is, after all ! ” 

Then all the brothers and sisters began to whimper 
and cry, and the father’s face fell as he turned it away in 
grief. 

This was Harold’s chance, and, rising from the bench, 
he drew his bag from beside him, and showed its store of 
jewels. 

“ I have found my fortune,” he said, “ enough for me, 
little Alice, and you all. We shall never know hunger or 
want again.” 

That was a happy household that night. 

In a few years Harold had grown to manhood, and 
Alice, taken away from the enchanted cave, had at last 
become a woman. Of course they were married, and lived 
happily ever after. 

They had been married only a year when a circus came 
to town, with wonderful curiosities to show, and the whole 
family left the grand house, in which they now lived, and 


96 


Return of the Fairies. 



Harold and Alice See the Giant Again. 


went to see the show. In a side tent a giant was on exhibi- 
tion, and being especially interested in giants, Harold and 
Alice went in to see him. 

What was their surprise to find that the giant was no 
other than their old friend. Dor whose long whiskers had 
been cut off, and who now wore the ordinary clothes of 
people of the day, and had become a very fat and happy 
looking giant indeed. 

Without telling him who they were, Harold and Alice 



Story of the Enchanted Cave. 


97 


got him to talking, and he told them that he was married, 
and insisted on sending out to bring in his wife. 

“ I chose her,” he said, “ because she looked like a 
little girl whom I loved very dearly many years ago, but 
who never seemed to grow old enough to be married.” 

But when his wife was brought in she turned out to be 
a very fat and clumsy looking woman, who looked no more 
like Alice than like the man in the moon. 



STORY OF THE BAD BOY. 


Sammy Hawkins was a very bad boy. Everybody said 
so. He had not a friend in the world, unless you counted 
his elder brother, with whom he lived, and who was fully as 
bad as himself 

I dislike to mention the bad things that Sammy 
did. He was a dirty boy ; he loved dirt, and hated 
to wash himself He was a cruel boy. It was sport to 
him to torment dumb animals and little girls and boys. 
He never told the truth, even when it would be just as 
useful to him as a lie ; he seemed to love a lie because it 
was one. He was a thief, and was in the habit of taking 
everything which he could lay his hands on, whether he 
had any use for it or not. He loved to use bad language, 
and hardly any of the words he ever used were such as 
could be repeated here. 

Sammy enjoyed throwing stones at cats and dogs, or, if 
he caught them, tying tin cans to their tails and watching 
their misery and terror. He found pleasure in picking 
quarrels, and striking and scratching other boys. He often 
amused himself by being rude to little girls, tearing their 

98 


Story of the Bad Boy. 


99 


clothes, pulling their hats off, and plaguing them as only 
bad boys know how to do. 

He had very little to eat, and not enough clothes to 
keep him warm in cool weather ; no one had kind words 
for him ; everybody looked upon him as a little thief and 
rascal ; but he took, his satisfaction in making other people 
miserable. 



Sanuny Had Not a Friend in the World. 


The neighbors used to get together evenings and talk 
about naughty Sammy Hawkins, and wonder in what jail he 
would be shut up when he grew a little older. Whipping 


oo 


Return of the Fairies. 


seemed to do him no good, scolding only made him laugh ; 
every day he grew naughtier, until boys ran away from him 
when they saw him on the street, little girls screamed when 
he came near them, and older people watched to see what 
mischief he might be about whenever he came their way. 
He was altogether the worst boy that was ever seen in the 
village; and people were only waiting anxiously for the 
time when he was old enough to shut up behind the bars. 

One night, when Sammy came home from a day of 
naughtiness, he found his brother away. He was not sur- 
prised at this, as his brother often came home very late at 
night, but when the boy awoke in the morning and saw no 
signs of his brother, he thought it was time to ask some 
questions. His brother had broken into a house, and had 
been taken to jail ; and the neighbors told Sammy that it 
would be many years before he saw him again. But 
Sammy knew how to steal, too, and thought he would be 
able to get all he wanted to eat, so, as his brother had 
not been any too kind to him, the boy did not care if he 
never saw him again. 

Now the fairies had been watching Sammy for a long 
time. Fairies do not generally care anything about bad 
boys, but, for some reason, they had always watched Sammy, 
and who knows but he might have been killed long ago in 
some of his mad pranks if it had not been for them. And 
now that he was left without any sort of a human friend or 
protector they made up their minds that the time had come 
for them to see what they could do for him. Everybody 


Story of the Bad Boy. loi 

else had given him up. He seemed to be pointed in the 
straight path for the jail where his elder brother had gone, 
and certain to grow up a worse man than he had been a 
boy. 



The Fairies Hold a Meeting. 


The first thing to do was to get hold of him, and, 
knowing his disposition, one of them changed herself into 
a little white dog, with a pretty gold bell about her neck, 
and trotted up and down in front of Sammy’s lodging. 
No sooner had the boy come out of his door than his eyes 


102 


Return of the P'airies. 


lighted on the pretty animal. If the dog had not worn a 
bell Sammy would have chased her out of mere mischief, 
but when he noticed the bell he was sure it was something 
that he might sell if he could get it. So he lost no time 
in running after the animal as fast as his legs would take 
him. 

The dog trotted along quite slowly, and Sammy thought 
she must be either tired or sick, and that it would be a very 
easy thing to catch her. But when he quickened his gait the 
dog seemed to quicken hers, keeping just the same distance 
between them all the time. 

In running and walking Sammy had passed over several 
miles, expecting almost every minute to overtake the queer 
little animal t'ut trotted along in front of him, but, finally 
getting out o^'.temper, he made up his mind to kill her. 
So, picking up some big stones from the roadside, he began 
to throw them at her as fast as he could. He was a very 
good marksman, but somehow he could not hit this dog; 
no matter how straight he threw a stone it seemed to turn 
aside just before it reached her. Then he again started 
forward after the remarkable animal, which again trotted 
ahead just fast enough to keep out of the boy’s reach. 

And so it kept on all that day. When the boy stopped, 
the dog stopped. When Sammy started, the dog started. 
Sometimes he tried to call her to him by soft words, but 
she only barked and still kept her distance. Finally, as 
night was coming on, he began to think it was time to 
go back home again, but when he came to look about him 


Story of the Bad Boy. 


103 


he found that he was in a country he had never seen before. 
He had no idea he had come so far. 

Just as Sammy was about turning around to go home. 



very much out of temper to think that he had not suc- 
ceeded in catching or killing the animal, a beautiful marble 
palace came in sight. A long flight of marble steps led up 
to the doorway, which was wide open. The dog ran up 
the steps and through the door, and Sammy never saw 
her again. He was a curious boy, and was very unwilling 


104 Return of the Fairies. 

to go home without finding out what sort of a place this 
was that he had come upon. So he climbed the marble 
steps, and, when he reached the open door, finding no one 
there, he went inside, hoping, naughty boy that he was, 
that he might find something which he could steal. But 
when he entered the open door it closed behind him, and, 
for the first time in his life, he felt rather uneasy. He 
went back and tried the door, but was unable to open it. 
Just then he heard steps on the grand staircase, and a 
beautiful lady, dressed in silks, her fingers glistening with 
diamonds, appeared in sight, and in a moment stood before 
him. 

“I am so glad you have come,” she said. “You must 
be tired.” 

She put out her beautiful white hand, and took his own 
rough one in it, just as if he had not been a dirty and bad 
little boy. Sammy did not know what to say, so, showing 
a wisdom lacked by many persons older and better than he, 
he said nothing. 

“ You must be hungry,” she went on. 

“Yes, I am,” said Sammy. 

“ Dinner is all ready for you,” she answered. “ It has 
been waiting for an hour.” 

It was the first time in the boy’s life that dinner had 
ever been waiting for him, and he did not know what to 
make of it. But it suddenly occurred to him, as he looked 
at the white hands and beautiful clothes of his hostess, that 
he was hardly fit to sit down to a meal with such as she. 


Story of the Bad Boy. 105 

“ Perhaps you would like to go to the bath-room before 
dinner? ” she said. Sammy did not know what a bath-room 
was, but he thought as long as everything was being made 
so pleasant for him, it would be best for him to answer 
“Yes” to whatever was suggested. 



The Fairies Give Sammy Royal Welcome. 


Then the lady rang a bell, and a boy, dressed in a blue 
suit with brass buttons, came along the hall. 

“ Show this young gentleman to the bath-room,” said 
the lady, “ and then bring him to dinner.” 



io6 


Return of the Fairies. 


As Sammy, feeling very proud to be called a gentleman, 
followed the boy, he remarked carelessly, “ Pretty nice 
place this ! ” 

“Yes, sir,” answered the boy. No one had ever said 
“sir” to Sammy before, and it took his breath away, so that 
he could make no more talk. 

“This is the bath-room, sir,” said the boy in blue, at 
last, holding a door open for Sammy to enter. “ I will 
wait for you outside.” 

The little room which he entered had a porcelain bath- 
tub in it, with soft towels hanging on the racks, and sweet- 
scented soap at hand. Over a chair was a suit of clothes, 
complete even to the stockings, and shoes on the floor 
besides. 

The tub was full of water, and Sammy guessed correctly 
what the water was for. In a few moments he emerged 
from the bath a very different looking boy indeed. He did 
not hesitate to put on the clothes which he saw over the 
chair, although he could not be sure that they were intended 
for him. To tell the truth, he was not very particular 
whether they belonged to him or not. Then, finding a 
brush and comb at hand, he stepped in front of the glass to 
give the finishing touches to his toilet. For a moment he 
did not know himself, and it was only after making three 
or four of the ugly faces with which he used to frighten the 
little girls that he was sure he was the same Sammy. 

No sooner had he finished brushing his hair than a tap 
on the door let him know that the boy was still waiting 


Story of the Bad Boy. 


107 


for him outside, and it was with quite a swagger that Sammy 
swung out of the room and followed his new acquaintance 



Sammy’s First Toilet. 


down stairs. Then a door opened, and he looked on 
something lovelier than he had ever dreamed of in his life. 

A long table stood lengthwise in the room, covered with 
beautiful china and silverware, and steaming dishes of all 
kinds of tempting food. All the seats but one were filled, 
some with boys and girls of about his own age, and 
dressed as nicely as himself, and others with ladies as beau- 



o8 


Return of the Fairies. 


tiful as she who had met him at the door. His little guide 
drew back his chair for him, and Sammy sat down, hardly 
knowing whether he was afoot or ahorseback. 

But the smell of the good things to eat soon brought 
him to his senses, and he lost no time in helping himself 
On one side of him sat a girl, with yellow curls, and the 
softest blue eyes, and on the other side sat a boy with a 
pleasant face. Both of them spoke to him, but Sammy 
was so greedy that he did not stop to make any answe-r 
until after his mouth was full, and then he could not. But 
while his mouth was full he looked about him, and had a 
chance to notice that neither his boy nor girl neighbors, nor 
anybody else at the table, seemed to take food to the mouth 
as he had done. No one said anything to him about it, 
but before Sammy began eating again he hunted about his 
plate for a fork such as he saw the others using, and, 
although he thought he could not get as much into his 
mouth at a time as he could with a knife,, still he preferred 
to do as the rest did. 

When, after a little while, the little girl spoke to him 
again he answered her, and did his best to leave’the naughty 
words out of his talk, although it was very hard for Sammy 
to say ten words unless half of them were bajd ones. It 
seemed to him that he never ate so much in his life before. 
He never had had enough before, even of bread and salt 
pork, and you may guess how much he ate to-day of this 
wonderful kind of food which almost melted in his mouth, 
hungry as he was besides. 


Story of the Bad Boy, 109 

Sammy did not know how tired he was until he had had 
enough to eat, and then, although he tried hard to be pleas- 
ant to the boy and girl who sat on either side, his eyes kept 
shutting in spite of himself, and he was very glad when 
some one at the other end of the table arose, and everybody 
else then stood up, and began to pass out of the room. 

“ I am so tired,” said Sammy to the little girl. “ I feel 
as if I could drop down.” 

“ You want to go to bed, don’t you ? ” she asked. “ I 
will find where your room is.” 

In a few moments the boy in blue with the brass buttons 
was at his side, and said, “ Do you wish to go to your 
room, sir ? ” 

And such a room as it was that Sammy was ushered 
into ! The bedstead was of brass, shining like pure gold. 
High pillows were at one end, and the coverlid was of silk 
and velvet. The bed clothing was pulled back so as to re- 
veal the white sheets, where he should lie. Such a bed 
might tempt any one who was not sleepy, but poor, tired 
Sammy could hardly wait until he was alone. 

“ You will find your nightgown on the back of the bed,” 
said the boy in blue. Sammy did not know what a night- 
gown was. ^ He had always slept in his clothes, and the 
only reason he had not slept in his shoes was that he did 
not have any. But the new thing interested him, so, instead 
of climbing into the bed with everything on, as he had 
intended, he undressed like a civilized little boy, put on his 
nightgown, and crept in between the sheets. No sooner 


I 1 o 


Return of the Fairies. 


had his head touched the pillow than the lights went out, 
and he was in the land of dreams. 

A very surprised boy was Sammy when he opened his 
eyes the next morning, and found himself lying in a real 
bed, between real linen sheets, with a real silk coverlid over 
him, wearing a real nightgown, and his head resting on real 
pillows. He could not believe hi j eyes, and supposed that 
he must be still dreaming, and that what had happened the 
night before was part of the dream. As he looked about 
the room and saw the beautiful furniture and the bright 
carpet, he rubbed his eyes very hard so as to awake him- 
self. When the things which he saw did not disappear 
after rubbing his eyes so hard, Sammy jumped out of bed, 
sure that when he shook himself they would fade out of 
sight, and he would find himself back in his own miserable 
room, still clad in his dirty and ragged clothes, his big 
brother lying in one corner, as dirty as himself. But nothing 
faded away. A little knock sounded on the door, and, in 
a moment, the boy in blue with brass buttons came inside. 

“You will find the bath-room just behind,” he said, 
“ through that open door. Breakfast is almost ready.” 

Now Sammy could not understand why he needed 
another bath, as long as he had washed himself the night 
before. But, since everybody was treating him well for the 
first time in his life, he did not want to’be the first to be 
disagreeable ; so he made his way into the bath-room and 
took another dip in the tub. Then, coming back, he was 
about to dress himself in the clothes which he had worn 


Story of the Bad Boy. 1 1 1 

the night before, when, thrown over the foot of the bed, 
he noticed another suit, just as clean as the first, and almost 
as pretty, he thought, but more fitted for play. He lost 
no time in putting it on ; and, after brushing his hair, so 
that he looked even nicer than last night, he stepped to 
the door and found his little friend in blue still waiting for 
him. 

He was taken down to the same room where he had 
had that wonderful dinner the night before, and found the 
same company waiting for him again, with the same lovely 
little boy and girl on either side of him, and just as nice 
things to eat, although very different ones. This time 
Sammy did not even touch his fingers to the meat or pota- 
toes, nor put his knife into his mouth once. He tried his 
best to eat just like the little gentleman and lady who sat 
on either side of him, and succeeded remarkably well for a 
beginner. 

“ We shall have a good chance to play after breakfast,” 
said the boy on his left. 

“Yes,” said the girl; “we have such a lovely play- 
ground.” 

In a few moments more Sammy was passing along the 
long halls of the beautiful building, one hand held by his 
new girl friend, and the other by the boy, on their way to 
play. 

Indeed it was' a fine playground. There was a ball 
field, and a pond where boys were rowing or sailing little 
toy ships, or wading in above their knees. There were 


I I 2 


Return of the Fairies. 


great heaps of sand where smaller children were digging; 
and there were little goats hitched to wagons with regular 
harnesses, and little boys driving them. There were 
boards for boys to saw and cut, and nails for them to 
hammer, and there were little brooks where other boys 
were fishing, and fruit-trees, the boughs of which were heavy 
with apples, pears, peaches, and plums. Although the 
children were running hither and thither, and playing all 
the games which children love so well, no one was using a 
bad word, and no one being rough or rude to another. 

Now, Sammy had really never played in his life. The 
only sort of sport he had enjoyed was making somebody 
else miserable, tormenting some little girl or boy, or abus- 
ing some dumb animal. So it was quite a while before he 
learned how to play with these children. Several times he 
forgot himself, and pushed or struck one of his new 
friends, and then he would stop and look about him, ex- 
pecting to be seized by the collar and dragged olf to be 
whipped. But the only punishment he received was the 
sorrowful look on the faces of those who noticed it, which 
somehow hurt him more than a whip would have done. 
Every one was kind to him, showed him all the new games, 
picked the nicest fruit for him, gave him the best boats to 
row, the nicest fish-poles to fish with, the nicest goat wagon 
to drive, and very soon Sammy had stopped even wanting 
to be naughty. It seemed the easiest thing in the world 
for him to be a gentle and good boy. 

Sammy had always looked upon a school as the worst 


Story of the Bad Boy. 



Sammy Trying To Learn How to Play. 

was almost as if a hole was made in the top of his head, 
and knowledge poured into it. 

But, shocking to say, after Sammy had lived in this 
beautiful palace for a number of months, a naughty spirit 
came into him one day while at play with his friends, and 


place in the world, but the very second day after he came 
to this wonderful palace he was taken to the fairies’ school, 
and found it fully as good fun to learn under their teaching 
as it was to play. And he seemed to learn so fast too ; it 


Return of the Fairies. 


114 

all of a sudden a stream of bad words poured out of his 
mouth. His new friends looked frightened almost to 
death, and it was only a moment before one of the fairies 
was by his side and shaking a little wand over his head. 
What she meant to do with the wand Sammy had no idea, 
but if she supposed it was going to stop him she was very 
much mistaken, for he only waited long enough to take 
breath before he began again. To his astonishment, every 
bad word, as it passed out of his mouth, turned into a fiery 
dart which burned his lips as it passed through them, and 
which, striking those to whom he was talking, pierced their 
skin and made them scream with pain. As soon as the 
boy discovered what his wicked words really were, he was 
so much frightened that he used them no more. 

But it was no later than the next day before Sammy 
had another attack of naughtiness. He began by disobey- 
ing the commands of one of the fairies, and made a bad 
matter worse by telling a lie about it. When she shook 
her wand over him, he saw his lie change into a long, wrig- 
gling snake, with wicked bead-like eyes and a fork-like 
tongue. As long as lies were such terrible things as that, 
Sammy resolved never to tell a falsehood again. 

One day he lost his temper with a little goat that was 
hitched to a wagon, and, breaking a piece of bough from 
one of the bushes, he began to beat the poor little beast 
with it very cruelly. What was Sammy’s surprise when, 
instead of the plaintive cry which he had expected, the 
animal turned his head toward him and began to talk 


Story of the Bad Boy. 


115 

with him just like a human being. “ Don’t you know,” 
he said to Sammy, who dropped his stick and opened his 
mouth in astonishment to hear a goat talk, “ that it hurts 
me to be pounded with a stick just as much as it would 
hurt YOU ? If I don’t do what you want to have me do, it 
is because I don’t understand what you want, or because 



Sammy Very Much Surprised. 


I am not strong enough to do it. It is very unkind of 
you to beat an animal ! ” Great tears ran down the goat’s 
hairy cheeks, and he sobbed like a child. It was not 


ii6 Return of the Fairies. 

necessary for any more of the animals about the fairy 
palace to talk with Sammy in order to teach him that ani- 
mals had feelings just like his own. 

Another day the boy had a lazy fit, and when the school- 
bell rang, and the other children left the playground for 
their lessons, he crawled in behind a bush and made up 
his mind to have a nap instead of doing anything like 
work that morning. But, all of a sudden, there came 
marching around the corner of the bush a crowd of little 
men, each with a hammer and handful of nails in his 
hands. They said never a word, but, scattering all about 
him, went to work to nail him to the ground, fastening him 
by his clothes, through the corners and folds of which they 
drove little spikes with all their might and main. At first 
Sammy thought it was a great joke to see the little men 
work so hard, while such a big fellow as he was lying out in 
the warm sunlight, doing nothing at all but enjoying himself. 
It was not very long, however, before he found out that they 
were working to some purpose, since when he tried to turn 
over, he found he could not move at all. He began to grow 
very uncomfortable, and begged them very loudly to let him 
go. But either they were too small to have ears, or they 
did not want to hear, for they went right on with their work, 
fastening him down tighter to the earth every minute, until, 
when their captain had fully inspected the job, and was sat- 
isfied that Sammy could not get up, they went off around 
the bush, and he saw them no more. 

So Sammy lay there in the sun, which grew hotter every 


Story of the Bad Boy. 


7 


minute, and, although he shouted at the top of his voice 
for help, no one came to him. How he wished all that 
long forenoon that he had gone to school like a good boy ! 



Sammy Is Tied Down by the Little Men. 


He remembered how cool and fresh the air was where 
the other boys and girls were studying their lessons. He 
could not understand what had made him so wicked that 
morning that he should have played truant, and preferred 
to idle through the forenoon rather than to study. The 
tears running down his cheeks washed away the earth which 


ii8 Return of the Fairies. 

held two or three of the nails in place, so that Sammy was 
able to move his head a little from side to side, which was 
some relief ; but no time ever seemed so long as that fore- 
noon, and no voice ever before sounded so pleasant as that 
of his fairy school-teacher, when, accompanied by a band 
of children, she came out into the grounds again. 

H is friends lost no time in pulling up the nails which 
fastened him so securely, and in wiping the tears and dust 
from his little sunburned face. But nobody scolded him 
or asked him any hard questions. All knew Sammy had 
learned another lesson which he would never forget. 

As it drew toward the end of the year that Sammy 
Hawkins had passed in fairyland, he had grown to be one 
of the nicest boys in the whole place. No one would have 
supposed that he had ever been cruel or disobedient, had 
ever used bad words, or told lies, or loved to be unkind. 
The fairies were very proud of their work of curing a bad 
boy, and were looking for some way to get him back into 
the world again, where he could do some good. 

Now, it so happened that not far from the fairy palace 
lived a man and his wife who had lost a boy that would 
have been just Sammy’s age if he had lived. They could 
not be comforted, as he was a sweet and noble boy, and 
had been a great joy to them. So one of the fairies, taking 
pity on the unhappy pair, went to their bedside one night, 
and made the father dream. And the dream was that a 
boy came down the street in front of his house, and stopped 
at his gate, then came up to his front door and knocked 


Story of the Bad Boy. 


119 

upon it ; and that he came to the door, his wife looking over 
his shoulder, and the little boy, whom they thought was very 
much like their own son that had died, told them that he was 
very tired and hungry, and asked them if they would let him 
rest a little ; that after he had rested, and they had given 
him something to eat, they asked him about his father and 
mother and his home ; and that he told them that he had 
none, and that they looked at each other, and, both think- 
ing the same thing, they asked him if he would not like to 
live with them and be their son. 

And just then the man awoke, and, awaking his wife, 
told her his dream. They lay there talking about it, and 
crying over the boy they had lost, almost until morning. 

And that very morning the queen of the fairies came to 
Sammy as soon as he was dressed, and said that it was time 
for him to go out into the world again ; he had come to 
them a bad boy, and they had made him a good boy ; he 
had come ignorant, and he had become intelligent. She 
told him that there was a man in a town not far away who 
wanted just such a boy as he for his son. He could make 
the heart of that man and of his wife glad, and have every 
help to grow up to be a good man himself, and that he 
must go there. 

‘‘ Oh ! where must I go ? ” asked the boy, whimpering 
at the thought of leaving this beautiful fairyland. So she 
told him that he must walk along such and such a street, 
until he came to a house with a brown front, and iron steps 
running up to it, with the number “ 64 ” on the door ; that 


I 20 


Return of the Fairies. 


he must go up to the door and ring the bell, and when the 
man came to the door tell him that he was tired and hungry. 

Sammy began to cry, but the fairy kissed him on his 
forehead and then disappeared, and the room in which 
Sammy was standing disappeared, and the palace in which 
the room was disappeared, and the grounds in which the 



Sammy Finds a Good Home. 


palace stood disappeared. Sammy found himself once more 
in the same field where he had been chasing the beautiful 
little white dog a year ago. He was as tired and hungry now 


Story of the Bad Boy. 


I 21 


as he was then, although he was no longer dirty, and really 
did not look at all like the same boy. 

He walked along the road which was close at hand, until 
it brought him to a town, and, walking down the street as 
he had been told, he came to a house with a brown front 
and iron steps, with the figures “ 64 ” on the door. His 
little heart in his throat with excitement, he went up the 
steps and knocked. The door was opened by the kindest- 
faced gentleman he had ever seen, and right behind him, 
peering over his shoulder, was his wife, as kind and sweet 
as himself; and both of them looked so surprised and so 
happy that Sammy could not understand it at all, nor did 
he know what they meant when they both cried at once, 
•Ht is the very boy ! ” 

But they did not wait for Sammy to say he was hungry 
or tired, but, taking him into the dining-room, set the best 
in the house before him ; and no sooner had he eaten than 
they both asked him, almost at once, how he would like to 
live with them always and be their little son. 



STORY OF THE GOLDEN KEY. 


Tommy Jones had brothers and sisters in plenty, but 
very little of anything else. His father did the best he 
could to feed and clothe a large family, and his mother did 
all that any woman could ; but many a night the children 
had to go supperless to bed, and the beds were none too 
warm. Tommy was only ten years old and could not do 
much to help, but he always did his best, and he tried 
hard not to cry when he was hungry. 

One afternoon he went into the woods near the little 
house where he lived ; he was in search of chestnuts, which 
he knew would serve him and his brothers and sisters for 
supper. He had just filled his pockets when he heard a 
pitiful mewing. Being a kind-hearted little boy, he looked 
everywhere for the cat which he supposed must be in 
trouble. At last he saw her in the branches of a tall tree, 
where her foot seemed to be caught. He called to her, 
and she answered with more mewing and a struggle to free 
her foot, as if asking him to come to her help. 

Now Tommy was a pretty good climber, but this was 
a very high tree with no branches near the ground. He 
122 


Story of the Golden Key. 


123 


i 



Pussy Asks for Help. 


threw off his coat, however, and began to climb. It was 
easier than he had thought, and he was half way up to the 
cat before he looked down at the ground, which seemed so 
far away that it made him dizzy. But when he stopped 
climbing, the cat mewed so much louder that he looked 
down no more, but kept climbing up as fast as possible. He 
found poor pussy’s foot was bleeding, and it was hard work 
to loosen it from the crotch in the branches where it had 
been caught ; but at last she was free, and jumping on his 


124 


Return of the Fairies. 


shoulder began purring and rubbing herself against his face, 
as he made his way down the tree, not daring to look at the 
ground for fear it would make him dizzy again. 

No sooner had he reached the ground and drawn a full 
breath than pussy sprang off his shoulder, and he never 
heard nor saw her again. But just at the foot of the tree 
he saw a little ribbon, such as pets sometimes wear about 
their necks, and fastened to it was a little yellow key. 
Taking it up, he found the key was quite heavy, and 
appeared to be of gold. He began to call the cat, thinking 
that, being somebody’s pet, it would be wrong for him to 
keep the key which had been on her neck ; but almost at 
once he found tied to the ribbon a note. It said, “ This 
is a present for the boy who was so kind to a cat.” 

Tommy had had no dinner that day, and it quickly 
occurred to him that if the key was really of gold it would 
not take him long to turn it into bread and meat. So a 
moment later he was running into the village as fast as his 
legs would carry him, all the while thinking how happy his 
father and mother and his brothers and sisters would be 
when he brought back to them plenty to eat and drink 
for once. 

He was only a little way from the store where he meant 
to take his key, when an old woman, who had been walking 
very slowly, turned around and spoke to him. Tommy 
had always been taught to be respectful to persons older 
than himself, and, in spite of his hurry, he stopped to ask 
what she might want. She answered in a very feeble voice. 


Story of the Golden Key. 


25 


saying that she would like to lean on his shoulder. Some 
of Tommy’s little friends happened to be near by, and he 
felt ashamed to be seen walking along the street with a 
ragged old woman leaning on his shoulder, but he had a 



Tommy Told Where to Seek His Fortune. 


kind heart, and did not refuse. He was also in a great 
hurry to exchange his golden key for bread and meat, but 
he patiently trudged along beside the old woman, although 
she leaned very heavily on his shoulder. 


Return of the Fairies. 


1 26 

When they reached a very large and tall oak-tree that 
stood quite near the village store, the old woman stopped, 
but still kept her hand on Tommy’s shoulder. She asked 
him what it was he had in his hand, and where he found it ; 
and Tommy, who had always been honest, told the whole 
story, and also what he was planning to do with the key. 

The old woman said, “You’re a very good little boy to 
take pity on a cat, and you showed yourself better in help- 
ing an old woman like me, when you were in such a hurry. 
Now, I will tell you what to do with your golden key. 
Don’t take it to the store, but keep it safely until to-night. 
Be at this tree where we now stand when the clock strikes 
twelve, and you will have a chance to make your fortune.” 
The words had no sooner gone out of her mouth than her 
heavy hand was taken from Tommy’s shoulder, and, when 
he turned quickly around to begin to ask questions, she was 
nowhere to be seen. ^ 

Tommy did not go into the store with his key, as he 
had intended to do, but turned around and walked slowly 
home, although he could not help thinking of how pleasant 
it would have been to take with him all those good things 
which he had been planning to buy. 

All they had to eat in Tommy’s house that night was a 
crust of dry bread and plenty of water, with some of the 
raw chestnuts which he took out of his pocket. It was not 
much like the supper which he had expected to bring 
home. 

Now the boy kept no secrets from his mother, and had 


Story of the Golden Key. 


27 


no idea of stealing out of the house and down to the big 
oak-tree unless she gave him leave. But he did not 
have any chance to speak to her alone that evening, for the 
whole family were in the habit of going to bed very early, 
so that they could forget how hungry they were. All went 
quickly to sleep except Tommy, and he was thinking 
so hard of the wonderful things which had happened 
to him that afternoon that he did not feel like closing 
his eyes. After he was sure everybody else was asleep, he 
rose from'the little pile of straw in one corner, which was 
the only bed he knew, and crept softly over to where his 
mother was sleeping. He had no sooner put his hand 
upon her than she awoke, and asked him what was the 
matter. 

Then Tommy told her in a whisper all about the cat, 
and about the old woman who had promised him a fortune. 
At first his mother thought the boy was dreaming, and told 
him to go to sleep again ; but when he showed her the 
little golden key with the silk ribbon, she saw that could 
not be a part of a dream. She asked her little son if he 
would not be afraid to go down to the tree so late at night, 
and he answered, not if she was willing he should go. She 
then told him to lie down and sleep, and she would call him 
when it was time to start. 

It did not seem to Tommy as if he had* been sleeping 
longer than a minute when his mother awakened him with 
a kiss, and told him it was time to go. She asked him 
again if he was not afraid, and offered to go with him, but 


28 


Return of the Fairies. 



Time to Get Up. 

Tommy said the fairy had not told him to bring any one, 
and perhaps would not like it if he should ; so he kissed 
his mother good-by, and trudged out into the dark, all 
alone, although, to tell the truth, his heart was beating very 
fast. He walked a few steps, and then he ran, until he had 
come near the big oak-tree. Then he saw, lying on the 
ground, a man with a pale face, looking very sick indeed, 
who drew a cup from his pocket and asked the boy to take 
it to the brook near by, and fill it with water, which he said 


Story of the Golden Key. i 29 

he thought would make him feel better. Now Tommy 
feared that he was late already, and that if he did as the 
sick man asked it would be past twelve o’clock before he 
could get to the tree, and so he would lose all chance of 
the promised fortune. But for all that he took the cup 
quickly and ran back again toward the brook. In the 
light of the moon Tommy saw that the vessel which he 
held was of pure gold, and being much larger than the key 
he was quite sure it would buy bread and meat enough to 
last for a long time. A wicked spirit told him to run 
away with the cup instead of filling it with water for the 
sick man, but Tommy would do no such thing. 

When he came back with the cup full of water the man 
drank it hastily, and then rose to his feet, saying he felt 
very much better, and walked along with the boy. Just as 
they reached the big oak-tree, while Tommy was looking 
all about for some sign of the fortune which he had been 
promised, the man said to him : — 

“ I know that you were in a hurry when you found me 
lying in the path, but you went back after the water with- 
out any complaint. I know, too, that the gold cup must 
have tempted you ; but I see that you are a good boy, and 
deserving of a fortune, and this is the way that leads to it.” 
And as he spoke he laid his hand upon the tree, and, to 
Tommy’s surprise, where he had noticed only ordinary bark 
before, he now saw a door large enough for him to enter, 
locked with a padlock. The man then said to him : — 

“ The little golden key will unlock this padlock; then 


130 


Return of the Fairies. 


you can open the door. Go in and fear nothing. It is 
only the bad who need be afraid.” 

The boy drew out his little golden key, and, fitting it 
in the lock, found that it turned and the door opened. As 



The Key Unlocks the Oak Tree. 


Tommy turned around to ask an eager question the man 
was nowhere in sight. And just then the bell in the vil- 
lage church began to toll for twelve o’clock. 

It looked very gloomy, but Tommy thought he would 


Story of the Golden Key. i 3 1 

just step inside, and then if he did not like it he could come 
out again ; no sooner, however, was he inside the door than 
it closed behind him with a ringing noise, and, although he 
felt all about in the darkness, he could not find any handle. 
From the outside the tree had not looked so very large, 
and the boy was very much surprised to see in front of him 
quite a long, hallway with a light at the other end. Not 
being able to go back he had to go forward, although to 
tell the truth he felt very timid. When became to the end 
of the hallway he found himself in a small room. At one 
side of the room was a large iron safe, and in front of the 
safe door stood a little man, with a high pointed cap of 
red, whose feet seemed to grow right out of the bottom 
of his body. The little man looked very cross, and 
Tommy was more afraid than ever, but as he could not go 
back, and saw no door anywhere, except the door in the 
safe, there was nothing to do but to speak to the goblin. 
Tommy thought the fortune he had been promised must 
be in that safe. 

“Will you please open that safe for me?” he said to 
the little man. 

Just then loud voices were heard, which seemed to come 
from inside the safe, and the growling of fierce dogs ; and 
the dwarf said to Tommy, “Are you not afraid ? ” 

“Yes, I am,” answered the boy, “ but I want to go in 
just the same.” At that the cross face changed to a pleas- 
ant one, and without more ado the dwarf touched the handle 
of the safe door, and it flew open. As Tommy leaned down 


32 


Return of the Fairies. 


to look in, he saw no dogs, such as he had supposed must be 
inside, nor giants, nor other terrible people to hurt him, but 
neither did he see any bags of gold nor the precious jewels 
he had expected. Indeed, there were no drawers nor 
shelves in the safe at all ; it seemed to be just the opening 
to a passage, and not a very pleasant-looking passage 
either ; not quite as high as his head to start with, and it 
seemed to grow smaller farther along. But he had a stout 
little heart, and determined to try if a fortune was really 
waiting for him. So he stepped inside the safe door, and, 
bending his head, began to grope his way along the narrow 
passageway. 

Almost at once he found that he must go down upon 
his knees in order to make any headway at all, and he had 
hardly done that before he heard the safe door clang behind 
him. For a moment he felt sick at heart, and wished he had 
never started out to seek the fortune which was so very hard 
to find. Still he kept groping along on his hands and 
knees, while the passage kept growing narrower and lower, 
until he had to crawl on his stomach. It was then that he 
saw ahead of him a light, and began to hope that he might 
soon get out of this terrible place. But the opening still 
grew smaller and smaller, until he was just getting ready to 
give up trying to go any farther, and making up his mind 
to go back and beseech the dwarf to let him out, when he 
found himself at the end of his difficult journey, and stand- 
ing in a large and well-lighted room. 

The room was filled with a gay company of boys and 


Story of the Golden Key. 


133 


girls in silks and velvets, singing and dancing as if there 
was nothing to do in this world but to have a good time. 
Tommy at first felt very much out of place among such a 
company ; his own clothes were so poor, and his feet bare. 
H e was much pleased when they gathered about him, as if 
very glad to see him, not seeming to notice his rags. They 
all began asking him questions at once: Where Tommy 
had come from, where he was going, how old he was, and 
last, and best of all, as he thought, if he was hungry. 

Tommy answered the last question first with a very 
loud “ Yes ; ” and it was not a minute before he found him- 
self seated at a table covered with the whitest of cloth, and 
before him dishes filled with things to eat. The poor boy 
had never had much besides bread and potatoes to eat in 
his life, and little enough of those, — even butter was a 
curiosity in his house ; and had never smelled anything so 
nice before as the strange-looking kinds of food which were 
set before him. But he did not wait to ask any questions, 
and helping himself from the nearest dish began to eat as 
only a hungry boy can. 

When he rose from the table his new friends proposed 
a game of “tag,” and Tommy joined in great delight. 
When they were tired of tag, “ hunt the slipper ” was pro- 
posed, and the frolic was just at its height when Tommy 
remembered that he had come looking for his fortune, and 
not for so much fun. So he suddenly stopped in the midst 
of the game and said he could not wait any longer. The 
little boys and girls gathered thickly about him and begged 


34 


Return of the Fairies. 


Tommy Remembers His Important Business. 



him to play just a little longer, but Tommy said that 
he must go and seek his fortune. And just at that moment 
he saw a door in the opposite side of the room, toward 
which he began to make his way. 

H is little friends, who had been so pleasant, now became 
very cross and angry, calling him disagreeable names, mock- 
ing his rags, pointing at his bare feet, and altogether mak- 
ing Tommy feel very badly. But at last he broke away 
from all of them, and opening the door passed out. 


Story of the Golden Key. 


Then as he looked about him he was glad that he had 
not wasted any more time in play, for, sure enough, right 
before his eyes was all the fortune which any boy could ask, 
— silver in all shapes, money, beautiful vases, and orna- 
ments, — enough of them he was sure to buy a whole village. 
All this treasure of silver was in plain view, but still at some 
little distance off. 

Tommy saw, as he looked about him, a number of other 
little boys looking longingly at the treasure. Some were 
ragged and bare-legged, and others wore pretty clothes and 
looked as if they had never been hungry in their lives. For 
a minute he wondered why they did not all run right over 
to where the silver was, and help themselves, there seemed 
so much of it in sight. But, as he took a few steps that 
way, he saw that, although the treasure was not far off, it 
was not easy to get to. Between where he stood and the 
store of silver there seemed to be a million sharp thorns 
sticking up, to wound the feet of any one who tried to pass 
over. And many of the thorns were red, as if from the 
wounds of those who had fallen on them. As he looked 
more closely, however, he could see, planted among the 
thorns, very small stepping-stones, no one of them large 
enough to hold the whole of even a very small boy’s foot, 
and not too near together at that. 

While he stood looking, one of the little boys near him 
made a start for the treasure, but, after stepping on two or 
three of the stones, came back faster than he went, crying 
out that the stones were hot. Three or four other boys, 


136 


Return of the Fairies, 


who had been all ready to follow him, drew back when he 
returned, and gathered around him, listening to his com- 
plaints, and afraid to try the passage themselves. But 
Tommy could see on the other side several boys helping 
themselves to the silver treasure, and he was sure that there 
was no other way for them to get there except over the 
thorns and the stepping-stones, and that if they had crossed 
he ought to be brave enough to try. He thought of his 
poor father and mother, his brothers and sisters, who^were 
so hungry at home, and made up his mind that he would 
try the passage himself. 

When he went down to the edge the boys came up 
to watch him. Some of them told him that he would 
tear his hands on the thorns, and others that he would 
burn his feet on the hot stones. But a few said that the 
thorns were not so very sharp, nor the stones so very hot. 
Tommy made up his mind not to pay any attention to what 
any of them said, but set his teeth, and stepped out on the 
first stone, which he found fully as hot as any one had 
reported. As he stepped over to the second he found it 
was no cooler, and he thought surely the bottoms of his feet 
were blistering. The boys whom he had just left watched 
him with great interest, and kept shouting all kinds of mes- 
sages to him, but he would have thought more of messages 
from the other side, if any had been given ; but it seemed 
as if the boys who had once gotten over lost all interest in 
their old companions. 

When Tommy was half way across, his foot slipped on 


Story of the Golden Key. 


37 


one of the smaller stones, and he fell flat on the thorns, 
tearing a new great rent in his clothes and making the blood 
flow from his knees. He could only raise himself to his 
feet after painful wounds in his hands and wrists, and once 



Across the Thorny Path. 


more he wished that he had never left his own home to go 
seeking for a fortune. The shouts of the boys whom he 
had left behind, saying, “ I told you so,” did not comfort 
him at all, and, as he struggled to his feet again, and tried 


138 Return of the Fairies. 

his best to get along, he noticed the boys who were on the 
other side now watching him, but not at all invitingly. 

But the last half of the way was much easier than the 
first. The stones grew gradually cooler, and the thorns 
were more far apart, until at last he reached the side where 
the treasure was. He turned to look back, and saw that 
two other little boys had started to follow him. One of 
them, after getting almost half way, had turned about to go 
back, and the other, even further along, had stopped and 
seemed just ready to give it up. Tommy remembered how 
he had wanted encouragement, and called back that it would 
be easier the rest of the way, and the little fellow took new 
heart, and came all the way over. Then he and Tommy 
went up to the stores of silver, which they had so well 
earned, and it took them but a few minutes to fill their 
pockets until so heavy the boys could hardly walk. 

While they were loading themselves with the treasure 
they saw boys who had come over before themselves, one 
after another passing out of doors to the right and left ; but 
just as they were ready to go after them they saw one little 
fellow walk up to a door which they had not noticed 
before, leading straight ahead. Now Tommy felt in a great 
hurry to get home to his mother with all the treasure which 
he had found. He had been picturing to himself, as he 
filled his pockets, how, after this, his brothers and sisters 
and himself would always have just such delicious dinners 
as he had eaten a few minutes before. But before he went 
he made up his mind that he would at least find out what 


Story of the Golden Key. i 39 

was beyond that other door ; so, his little friend by his side, 
he opened it and looked in. 

The treasures of silver were nothing to be compared 
with the treasures of gold which he saw before him now, 
and much as he had wanted the silver, he wanted the gold 
more. He remembered how hard it had been to reach the 
silver, and was ready to believe that it must be even harder 
to get to the gold. But he was a brave boy, and as long 
as he was seeking his fortune he wanted to get as good a 
fortune as he could. The first thing to do was to find how 
to get to the gold, for between the place where he and his 
little friend were standing and the heaps of treasures was 
a wide opening, out of which black smoke and red fire kept 
curling, and it was easy to see that no one could ever go 
through that. 

The place was not any too light, and it was some time 
before the boys found the only way provided to get over. 
That was a narrow plank, not wide enough to stand upon 
with both feet together. The plank had no railing, and 
was not so far above the smoke and fire that one could feel 
by any means safe in passing over. His friend said he 
would not try it, and, although Tommy persuaded him two 
or three times to come to the very edge of the plank, when 
the little fellow smelled the smoke he grew very pale and 
insisted that he would rather go back with what he had, and 
begged Tommy to go with him; but our hero would not 
hear of such a thing. He would have liked a balancing- 
rod to carry across the plank, as he had seen performers do 


140 


Return of the Fairies. 



A Very Narrow Bridge to Walk. 


on tight ropes or wires, but, no such thing being at hand, 
he carefully divided the silver which he had, putting half 
of it in the pockets on one side and half in the pockets on 
the other, hoping that it would keep him steady. 

He then bade his little friend good-by, and started across 
the plank, which was even narrower than it had looked ; but 
he tried to keep his eyes straight ahead, and not to think 
of his danger any more than he could help. He had al- 




Story of the Golden Key. 141 

most reached the other side when he suddenly looked down, 
and was so frightened at what he saw that he lost his balance 
and fell. But as he threw out his hands he managed to 
catch the plank. His feet now hung directly in the open- 
ing, and he thought he was being burned up by the fire, 
while the smoke filled his eyes and nose, until he could 
hardly see or breathe. 

But Tommy’s was too brave a spirit to let him give up 
until he had to, so he kept trying to pull himself along the 
plank by his hands, and a little cheer in the distance told 
him that his friend was still watching him. His strength 
grew less and less, his hands slipped more and more off the 
plank, until at last he let go. He could not see where he 
was, but he supposed that when he let go it would be the 
last of him. He shut his eyes as he fell, but it was only 
for a little way. He had really passed almost over the 
opening before he lost his hold, and quite free of the fire, 
so he had only to clamber up the brink, and he was safe. 
He waved his hand to his friend on the other side, but did 
not dare to invite him over after his own danger ; so he 
silently watched the little fellow turn around and go back 
through the door, with whatever treasures of silver he had. 

The stores of gold which Tommy saw ready for his 
hand were more wonderful than he had imagined. It did 
not take him long to empty his pockets of silver and fill 
them with the more precious metal. He knew that he had 
enough now so that his father might have a better home, 
and his little brothers and sisters be clothed and comfortable. 


142 


Return of the Fairies. 


and that they might all have as much to eat as they wanted 
all their lives. He was very happy that he had not 
been satisfied with the silver. Looking about, he saw a few 
boys, who, like himself, had passed over the narrow plank, 
some of whom were resting after their efforts, while others 
were passing out to the right and left. Several of them 
gathered around him, and told him how they came over the 
thorns and stepping-stones, to the silver treasure, and after- 
wards made the difficult passage of the narrow plank, to the 
stores of gold. Some said they had come over the plank 
without losing their balance once ; others had fallen, and 
been saved by some companion ; others had come in pairs, 
and helped each other ; still others had tried two or three 
times, and had gone back afraid, before they made the final 
passage. They also told him of other boys whom they had 
seen try to make the passage, but who had fallen in the 
middle, not to be seen again. 

Then one of them said to Tommy, “ Are you going to 
try for the jewels, or are you satisfied ? ” 

Tommy said, “I ought to be satisfied; but Where are 
the jewels ? ” 

And the boy said, “Just beyond are the jewels. Fill 
your pockets with this gold — it may last a few years ; 
but fill them with the jewels beyond, and you will be rich 
all your life.” 

Tommy thought he might as well look at the jewels ; so, 
instead of passing out at the side doors as most of the boys 
were doing, he opened the door straight ahead. Piles of 


Story of the Golden Key. 


H3 

glistening diamonds, emeralds, rubies, and sapphires were 
in sight, such as he had never dreamed of before. But 
between him and the precious store of jewels ran an angry 
river, boiling high, full of rocks, and looking very danger- 
ous, and he remembered that he had never learned to swim. 



and thought that even if he had, he would not like to 
venture into such a stream as that. Besides, poor little 
Tommy felt very tired. He had been through great trials 
since he had left home, so long ago it seemed, and it was 


144 


Return of the Fairies. 


very hard for him to think of attempting any new dangers, 
worse than those that had gone before, after all he had been 
through. The more he thought of it, the more it seemed 
to him that he would do better to be satisfied with the gold 
which he had. 

As he cast his eyes about him, he saw to the right of 
him a door. Perhaps it led to some easier way to the jewels 
than plunging into the black river. He found it opened 
into a beautiful room. Bright pictures hung on the walls ; 
on the floor was a thick carpet like down, the room was 
lighted from hanging lamps, and easy chairs were placed 
about it, which looked very tempting to him. He noticed 
hanging on a rack in a corner a suit of clothes, which -he 
was sure would fit him. There was a beautiful blue cap 
with a lovely ostrich feather, a velvet suit, high stock- 
ings of silk, and a pair of shoes that were just his size. It 
did not take Tommy very long to throw off the soiled and 
ragged clothes he wore, and put on the new clothes. 

Now, forgetting all about the jewels, he passed out into 
another room larger than the first, in the centre of which 
was set a table, on which a dinner, smoking hot, was waiting 
for him. Like most boys. Tommy always had an appetite, 
but he had passed through enough this night to make him 
even more hungry than usual, and the meal which he found 
waiting for him was even better than the one he had enjoyed 
so much with the children. 

While he was eating, he began to hear lovely music 
which made him very sleepy. He was sure that there 


Story of the Golden Key. 145 

must be a bed near by, and in the next room he found 
such a bed as he had never seen before, — so soft that, when 
he put his weight on it, it sank far down, — the linen as 
white as snow, and the most tempting pillows for him to 
lay his head upon. The sheets were drawn back, too, as if 
to make it easier for him to creep in. Tommy’s eyes were 
heavy with sleep, and he felt that he had done all the work 
that could be asked of any little boy, and had a right to rest. 

But it happened that, ‘never having seen a real bed 
before, his own sleeping-place having been a heap of straw 
in a corner of the room, he thought he would look this all 
over before getting into it. He handled the silk quilt, felt 
of the fine linen sheets, pressed the soft feather pillows, and 
at last went down on his hands and knees to look under- 
neath. All his happiness suddenly disappeared. A keg of 
powder had been placed directly under the spot where he 
would have lain, and, running from the powder, was a long 
fuse, the end of which was burning. Tommy saw that the 
fuse would soon burn to the powder, and the powder ex- 
plode ; and that if he had ever crept into the bed and gone 
to sleep there would have been a speedy end of his fortune. 

Then it came over him that he had not left his little 
home to sleep, nor to enjoy music, nor to eat rich dinners, 
but in search of his fortune ; and he started out of the beau- 
tiful room far more eagerly than he had come into it. But 
it had been much easier to come in than it was to go out. 
His feet seemed glued to the floor, and his legs almost 
refused to move. As he passed through doors it seemed 


146 


Return of the Fairies. 



as if hands which he could not see caught hold of him, and 
tried to draw him back. When he finally had passed out, 
and once more saw the black river, and the jewels in clear 
sight. Tommy felt almost as tired as he had done after any 
of his labors of that night. He stopped no longer, how- 
ever, but pushed forward to the edge of the river, although 
the nearer he came to it the blacker and more fearful it 
looked. 

While he stood there he saw other boys rush into the 


147 


Story of the Golden Key. 

river and try to swim across; and they were either taken 
under by the black waters, and were seen no more, or else 
were driven back. But as he walked along the shore and 
looked more carefully he saw a number of boats, and of all 
kinds. Some were large and pleasant, and looked safe 
enough for anybody. Others were very slight, and looked 
as if they would break to pieces by the mere force of the 
waves. Going to one of the larger boats, he found it would 
cost a great deal of money to ride in it ; and when he took 
out all that he had of gold in his pockets, and showed to 
the boatman, the fellow shook his head. So Tommy fi- 
nally had to take up with one of the smaller boats, and its 
greedy owner demanded every particle of the boy’s gold 
for fare. 

Then the boat started upon its passage. If the water 
had looked black and dangerous from the shore, it was far 
worse in the passage. The waves rose very high and often 
fell over into the boat, so that the water must be dipped 
out in little cups, to prevent the craft from sinking. Big 
and rough rocks stuck their noses out from the water every 
few feet ; and once in a while the boat would strike one of 
them, and seem likely to break to pieces before it could be 
pushed off. Other boats came quite near them, as they 
made the passage, and often one of them would tip over and 
send to the bottom everybody on board. Sometimes his 
boatman would row fast and seem to make good headway ; 
at other times the waves were so strong and high that the 
boat went backward instead of forward. Tommy was now 


148 


Return of the Fairies. 


only anxious to save his life. He would perhaps have 
turned about and gone back, but the boatman told him that 
would be the most dangerous thing of all to do. 

At last they came almost to the shore, and the waters 
began to be more quiet, and the boatman rowed more 



Tommy Finds His Fortune. 


easily, when suddenly another boat came tearing down 
toward them, driven by the waves, and striking theirs on 
the side, threw Tommy out into the water. He went down, 
down, down, until he thought he would never come up 


Story of the Golden Key. 


149 


again ; but, holding his breath, like the wise boy that he 
was, he struck out with his arms when he came to the top, 
and, although he had never learned to swim, he found that 
he did not sink again, and a few more bold, hard strokes 
brought him to where his feet touched bottom, and he 
climbed up on the shore. 

Tommy was the most tired boy in the world then, and 
he lay down just out of the reach of the waves for a few 
minutes, forgetting there was such a thing as a jewel within 
reach. But by and by his strength came back to him, 
and he looked about. There were only two little fellows 
on that side. Few who attempted to cross that stream 
were able to do so. He felt so sad then, as he saw the 
other boys come to grief while trying to make that terrible 
passage, that the emeralds, diamonds, rubies, and sapphires 
hardly seemed worth the taking. 

But Tommy wearily filled his pockets with the wonder- 
ful glittering things, and, the new clothes having numerous 
pockets, he was able to store about him enough to buy a 
whole county if he should want one. Then, without even 
looking back again at the terrible black river, he started for 
the nearest door in sight, so weak that he could hardly 
open it. 

He tried three times before he opened the door, and 
outside everything looked so black that at first he could 
see nothing. But when he shut the door behind him he 
found himself not, as he had expected, far away from home, 
but just outside of the oak tree where the sick man had 


150 


Return of the Fairies. 



A Happy Morning in Tommy’s Home. 


left him, and the bell, which was just beginning to strike 
twelve when he went into the tree, was just finishing its 
strokes as he came out. Feeling behind him on the tree, 
Tommy found nothing but the rough bark, — nothing like 
a door anywhere. He thought surely he must have been 
dreaming, until, putting his hands in his pockets, he felt 
the gems. 

It took him but a few moments to reach his home, the 
door of which was always open, as there was not anything 


Story of the Golden Key. 


151 


worth stealing in that house ; and, without even awaking 
his mother, he threw himself on his own little pile of straw 
in the corner, and went to sleep. 

Tommy knew nothing more until the bright light of 
day was streaming into the room, when, hearing voices 
about him, he opened his eyes and saw his father and 
mother, his two brothers and his three sisters, all gathered 
around and staring at him. 

“ What is the matter ? ” he cried, forgetting for the 
moment all that had happened to him during the last 
night. 

“What is the matter.?” echoed his father. “Where 
did you get those clothes that you have on ? ” 

The boy glanced down at his velvet coat and silk stock- 
ings and his beautiful shoes, and at his cap with the feather 
in it that lay beside him, and then he remembered. 

“ I will tell you,” he said, “ but first let mother tell 
what she knows about it.” 

After his mother had told her story. Tommy told his, 
and, when he had finished, he emptied his pockets of all the 
rare and costly jewels which they contained. 

So that family was never poor any more, but had all 
the best of the good things which there are in the world ; 
and all because Tommy was a good and brave and true 
little boy. 


r 


STORY OF THE MAGIC MIRROR. 


Mr. Thompson was a very rich man. He had horses 
and carriages, a town and a country house, servants by the 
dozen, and he owned whole acres of beautiful groves and 
green meadows. 

Everything had gone well with Mr. Thompson, except 
that, for many years, he had had no child. Many and 
many a time he and his wife had said they would gladly 
exchange all their wealth for one little tiny baby. And at 
last on a Christmas eve a wee little girl was given to them. 
Mr. Thompson was sitting in his library when the good 
news was brought, and felt the happiest man in the whole 
world. He pictured to himself the wonderful things he 
would do for that little girl, the pleasures he would give 
her, the trips all over the world, the love and care such as 
no other child ever had. Already he pictured her climbing 
into his lap, patting his cheeks, saying what a kind good 
papa he was, and asking him for everything which money 
could buy. He thought that if she cried for the moon he 
would do his best to get it for her. But just then there 
came a tap at his door, and in response to his “ Come in ” 
a maid entered. 


152 


Story of the Magic Mirror. 


153 


“An old woman wants to see you,” she said, “and we 
cannot put her off,” 

“ What is her name ? ” he asked. 

“ She would not give any name. She said it was some- 
thing about the baby, *sir.” 

“ Something about the baby ? What kind of a looking 
woman is she ? ” 

“ Oh, she is not a nice-looking woman at all, sir,” 
answered the maid. “ Her clothes are very old and faded, 
and she wears the funniest bonnet, sir, you ever saw.” 

“ What can she have to say to me about my baby ? ” 
exclaimed Mr. Thompson. “ Oh, send her away.” 

Then the father began to dream once more about the 
wonderful new baby that was given to him, and how happy 
he would make her, and keep away from her all the sorrow 
and trouble in the world, when there came another tap at 
his door, and the maid entered again. 

“ She won’t go away, sir. She says you will be very 
sorry if you don’t see her.” 

Now, on any other night but this Mr. Thompson 
would not have thought for a moment of letting the 
beggar woman — for such he thought it was — come into 
his library,, but he hated to refuse any request to-night, so 
he said, “ Well, let her come,” and as the girl shut the 
door behind her he felt in his pocket for loose change, sup- 
posing that the woman was coming after money. Then 
the door opened again and a funny li.ttle old woman came 
in, with a queer old-fashioned bonnet on her head, heavy 


154 


Return of the Fairies. 


shoes on her feet that sounded very loudly when she 
walked, and a faded shawl pinned about her shoulders. 
The maid waited curiously at the door until her master 
said, “You may go, Mary,” then, turning to the old 
woman, he invited her to sit down. Mr. Thompson was a 
gentleman, and however poor a woman might be he always 
tried to be polite to her. “ Now, what is it you want? ” 

“ I just want to make you a present, Mr. Thompson.” 

And then he was surprised, and smiled. “ You are sure 
you don’t want to have me make you one ? ” 

“Oh, no! ” and she laughed the strange cackling laugh 
of the very old woman ; “ but the present is not so much 
for you as for the little one.” 

“ A present for my baby so soon 1 ” he exclaimed. 

“It isn’t much to look at,” said the old woman, “and 
you may laugh when you see it.” And, fumbling in her 
pocket, she drew forth a broken piece of looking-glass, 
which she laid on the desk. “This is the present.” 

Mr. Thompson thought she must be out of her wits, 
but he could not be harsh to any one that night, so he 
thought to joke with her a little. “Why, the baby would 
cut herself with that 1 Besides, we have plenty of mirrors 
in the house, which we could break up to make such little 
bits as this if we wanted to give her a chance to cut her 
fingers.” 

The old woman cackled again. “ But you have no 
mirror like this,” she said. “ This is a magic looking- 
glass, made many, many years ago, before all the great 



The Gift of the Magic Mirror 











Return of the Fairies. 


•56 

secrets had been forgotten, and it is now the only piece of 
the kind in the whole world.” 

“ Why, it looks like any other looking-glass,” said Mr. 
Thompson, “ except that it is more stained.” 

“ This is no joke, sir,” she answered, “ nor am I the 
half-witted creature that you think. Your little girl you 
mean to surround with all of the best there is in this world. 
All that money can buy you will give her, and all that care 
can do for her will be done. But great dangers await her, 
and this little piece of looking-glass which I bring to you 
will be her safeguard.” 

Then Mr. Thompson grew serious. “ But why do you 
bring it to me ? ” 

Then the old woman said, “ Can you remember way 
back to your boyhood, when you were but twelve years 
old? You were poor then. Walking along on the street 
of this very village, you came upon a crowd of rough boys, 
who were throwing snowballs at an old woman making her 
way quietly along the street. You drove them all away and 
said a kind word to her. Do I look anything like that old 
woman ? ” 

Then Mr. Thompson remembered that long-distant 
day, even to the color of the shawl and the sort of shoes 
which the woman wore. “ Why, you are she ! ” he cried. 

“Yes, yes!” cackled the old woman, “and I never 
forget favors. So, when your little girl grows to be twelve 
years old I want you to give her this glass, and if she uses 
it aright it will prove a blessing to her and you.” 


Story of the Magic Mirror. 157 

“But what can the glass do for her?” asked Mr. 
Thompson. 

“ I told you it was a magic looking-glass,” she answered. 
“If she turns it so as to reflect the face of those near at 
hand, it will show what they really are instead of what they 
seem to be.” 

“H ow ? ” he asked, with more interest. 

“If she turns it,” explained she, “ so as to reflect a face, 
it will show, not the usual face of that person, but the face 
of the animal which he or she most resembles. If the 
animal is a bad and treacherous one, then she may know 
that the person is bad and treacherous. If the animal is a 
noble and faithful one, she may know that the person is 
noble and faithful.” 

“ Why, this is very strange ! ” he cried. “ How can I 
believe you ? ” 

She then lifted the mirror in her hand. “ You might 
try it,” she answered, and he reached eagerly forward to take 
it from her. “ But wait one moment. You see, the mirror 
is very much stained and discolored. It has been used very 
many thousands of times since the ancient days of the world, 
and can be used but five times more. When it has given 
five more such reflections it will become so stained as to be 
of no further good. If you wish to waste one of the trials, 
call in one of your servants and see what kind of an animal 
it is that he or she most resembles. But I advise you to 
leave your little daughter all of those five trials for her own 
benefit. That will be better than to waste even one of them 
merely to satisfy your own curiosity.” 


158 Return of the Fairies. 

“ But it all sounds so strange ! ” said Mr. Thompson. 

“Yes, I know it must sound strange to you,” she 
answered, “ but it can do your little daughter no harm to 
give her the mirror when she is twelve years old, and tell 
her what I have told you, even if it does not do what I have 
promised.” 

“ That is true,” said Mr. Thompson, “ and I thank you.” 

Then the old woman rose to her feet. “ Do not forget 
that serious dangers threaten your little daughter. Be sure 
to give the mirror to her on the morning of her twelfth birth- 
day.” Then Mr. Thompson stepped to the door and 
pushed a button to call a maid to show the old woman out, 
and in a few moments he sat alone in his room again, with 
the mirror laid face downwards in the drawer of his desk, 
thinking of the strange tale which had been told him. 

Little Hilda Thompson grew to be a beautiful and 
noble girl.. Every one loved her, but of course none so 
dearly as did her father and mother. Her father had for- 
gotten about the mirror, not even having told his wife of 
it, never supposing for a moment that any danger could 
threaten his carefully guarded child. 

But it so happened that the morning of her twelfth 
birthday Mr. Thompson had occasion to go to his desk 
and thoroughly examine all the papers inside of it. In the 
back of one of the drawers, covered with papers and dust, 
he found the broken piece of glass, and for a moment 
could not think how it came there. Then that evening 
twelve years ago, when the strange old woman had come to 


* Story of the Magic Mirror. 159 

him with her wonderful tale, came back to his memory, and 
his heart grew very heavy as he remembered that it was 
now, as she had said, that the dangers were going to begin 
for his precious child. He had come upon the mirror in 
the very nick of time. 

Mr. Thompson sent for his daughter at once, mean- 
while wrapping the mirror very carefully in a piece of velvet. 
Very soon he heard the bounding steps of his child along 
the hall, the door burst open, and she came in like a beau- 
tiful little whirlwind, and climbed to her favorite place upon 
his knee. “ What is it, papa ? Do you want to ask me 
more about my party for to-night? ” For Hilda was going 
to have a birthday party that night, to which she had been 
looking forward for many weeks. “ What makes you look 
so sober, dear ? ” 

“ I have a little story to tell you, my darling,” an- 
swered her father, stroking her long golden hair, which 
hung in curls, and looking sadly into her large blue eyes. 

“ Is it a sad story, papa, that you look so ? ” 

“I will tell you,” he answered. “Twelve years ago, 
as I was sitting in this room, the very night that you were 
born, my dear, a queer-looking little old woman came in to 
me, and left what she said was a magic mirror. She told 
me that it was for you, to be given to you when you were 
twelve years old, and that if you used it aright it would 
protect you from danger. It is the thought of that danger 
which makes me sad. The mirror, she said, could be used 
but five times before it would become so badly stained 


i6o 


Return of the Fairies. 



Hilda’s Birthday Present. 


that you could see nothing more in it ; so you must be 
very careful, my darling, how you use it. It shows the real 
character of people. If a person is good and true, or bad 
and false, the reflection in the mirror will be that of the 
animal which he or she is most like at heart.” 

“ Oh ! where is it, papa ? Where is it ? ” she cried. 
“ I want to try it.” And her eyes danced with glee. 

“ No, no ! ” he said. “ Remember I told you it could 
be used but five times, and you must not waste its virtue 


Story of the Magic Mirror. 


i6i 


for fun or curiosity, but use it only when you are very sure 
that it is necessary. If it is what she said, it will protect 
you from great dangers, for people are not always what 
they seem.” 

Then he took the magic mirror, wrapped in velvet, 
from the top of the desk. ‘Mt has lain in one of the 
drawers of my desk for twelve years, my dear, and I have 
just wrapped it in velvet, so that by no chance its virtue 
could be spoiled by accident.” 

“ But do you believe such a fairy story, papa ? ” she 
asked. 

“ There is no harm in trying the glass,” said her father. 
“ But I will tell you, my darling, that many a person in the 
world would give all he possessed for a glass which would 
show, even once, the true character of some person.” 

So he put her down from his lap and handed her the 
broken piece of looking-glass, in its velvet covering. 

It was only a few moments after his daughter had run 
out of the library, and gone to her little dainty chamber to 
put away her curious treasure, that a message came to Mr. 
Thompson, telling of the death of his brother, in a place 
not far away, and calling him and his wife to come at once. 
But the message explained that a child in the house had 
scarlet fever, so it would be best not to bring their little 
daughter with them. Mr. Thompson was very much as- 
tonished to receive such a message, as he did not know that 
his brother had been sick. But there was not a moment to 
lose if they were to catch the train, so^ hastily telling his 


i 62 


Return of the Fairies, 


wife of the sad news, he ordered the carriage, and they pre- 
pared to go. 

There seemed no danger in leaving Hilda, since the 
governess, who thought everything of her, was to be there. 



Left Alone in the House. 

and all the men and women about the house loved her 
very dearly. Still, Hilda had never been separated from 
her father and mother, even for a single day, before, and, 
as she watched them drive away, the tears ran down her 
cheeks. 


Story of the Magic Mirror. . 163 

The whistle of the train which was to take her father and 
mother away had not yet sounded when another message 
came to the house, and this was for the governess, telling 
her that her sister in the village below had been taken very 
seriously sick. 

“ I will be back soon, my dear,” she said. “ Don’t go 
out of the house while I am gone.” 

But with so many friends still close at hand, Hilda 
was not afraid, but going into her own little room, the win- 
dows of which opened to the front of the house, she took 
up her favorite book of fairy tales, and began to read. 

Then, all of a sudden, from her window she saw great 
clouds of smoke rising from the stables, which lay to the 
north of the house, and flames darting out of the windows. 
She loved the horses> and was very much disturbed at their 
danger, and, calling to the butler, and to all of the servants 
in the house, told them to make haste and rush down to the 
stables to save the animals. So, strangely enough, it hap- 
pened that within a very few minutes of the time when her 
kther and mother had kissed her good-by on the front door- 
step, Hilda was left all by herself in the great house. 

Hilda was still sitting in her own little room at the front 
of the house when she heard the rumbling of a carriage on 
the driveway. It stopped at the door, and a man, alighting, 
rang the bell. For a moment the child forgot that there was 
no one in the house but herself, and waited for some one to 
go to the door and let him in. But soon the bell rang again, 
louder and longer than before, and she remembered that she 


164 


Return of the Fairies. 


was alone in the house. So she stepped to the window, 
and, throwing it open, leaned out and called to the man 
below. 

“ What is it.^ ” 

“ Let me in, quick ! ” he answered. 

“ But there is no one in the house but me,” she said. 
“ What do you want ? ” 

“ I can’t talk here,” said the man, looking up at her. 
“Just come to the door.” 

“You can tell me from there,” she replied. 

“ The train with your father and mother on it has 
run off the track,” he called up to her, “ and your father is 
badly hurt. Your mother sent me to get you and bring 
you to him.” 

“ Oh, that is terrible ! ” cried Hilda. 

“ Come at once,” said the man. “ There is no time to 
wait. I have a carriage waiting for you.” 

Then she thought of the wonderful mirror which her 
father had given to her that very morning — her poor father 
whom she was told was now so badly hurt. If the mirror 
was of any use this was surely the time to prove it. She 
would turn it toward this stranger and see whether he was a 
good or a bad man. She made haste to rush to her little 
bureau, and taking the piece of looking-glass from its velvet 
case, she leaned far out of the window and called to the 
stranger below. 

“ I am afraid to come down.” 

Then the man stood back farther on the porch, and 


Story of the Magic Mirror. 


165 



Hilda Tests Her Magic Mirror. 


turned his face up to her. “ Why are you afraid ? ” he 
asked. “ I only came here for you because your mother 
sent me.” He had a smooth voice, was well dressed, and 
carried a handsome cane in his hand. Then, drawing the 
broken piece of glass from the velvet, she held it so as to 
show his face, and looked carefully for the reflection. She 
was so frightened at what she saw that she almost dropped 
the glass to the ground below, for, instead of the face of a 
tall and handsome man, as he had looked, with the dress 


1 


i66 


Return of the Fairies. 


and manners of a gentleman, the mirror showed a wolf on 
all fours, with a shaggy coat, and fierce, bloodshot eyes, and 
with open mouth showing long, sharp teeth. 

“ What is that in your hand ? ” he asked ; but Hilda 
did not stop to answer. Drawing back quickly, she stood, 
fairly dancing on the floor, for a moment, as she wondered 
what to do next. She knew now that this was a bad, false 
man, and she suddenly thought that it had been part of his 
plan to call her father and mother away, and to send for her 
governess, and even to set fire to the stables, so that she should 
be left quite alone. No doubt he thought then it would be 
very easy to take her away, and perhaps she would never 
have seen her father and mother again if she had gone. 

But what to do next The smoke from the stables was 
still rising black in the air, and as far as she could look she 
could see no one coming toward the house. Then she 
remembered that, when the house was built, her father had 
put a bell in the'tower, the rope of which hung down in one 
of the upper rooms. He had said it was to be rung only 
in case of fire, so as to let the village below know that help 
was required. It only took her a moment to run up the 
stairs, and, grasping the rope in both hands, she pulled with 
all her might and main. The bell was a very large one and 
gave out a sound so loud that it could be heard fora mile at 
least. She was not satisfied with ringing it once, but pulled 
the rope again'and again, until she was almost made deaf by 
the sound. Then she stole softly into another room, and 
peeped out through the blinds to see if the stranger was still 


Story of the Magic Mirror. 


167 


there. He ran rapidly down the steps, leaped into the car- 
riage ; then the driver whipped his horses till they fairly 
galloped down the driveway toward the gate. 



Hilda Rings the Alarm Bell. 


It was only a few moments more before the servants 
came rushing in from the fire, wondering what terrible thing 
had happened to their little pet. Shortly afterwards the 
governess came from the village, and said that her sister 
had not been sick at all, and that she could not understand 


i68 


Return of the Fairies. 


how such a story had been brought to her. The governess 
had hardly finished her tale when Hilda’S father and mother 
came in. It seems that they had met the brother, whom 
they thought was dead, at the station, and he was as well as 
ever. Then Hilda told her story, and her father under- 
stood it all. Some wicked men had planned to get every- 
body else away from the house, so that the child should be 
left alone, hoping then to be able to steal her away, knowing 
that Mr. Thompson would be only too willing to give all 
he had in the world to get her back again. 

Very kind words were said that night of the old woman 
who had brought the magic mirror, which had been 
given to Hilda on the very morning when it was so much 
needed. 

After that Mr. Thompson was more careful than ever of 
his daughter, giving positive orders that she should never 
be left alone. But as the weeks and the months went by 
no danger seemed to threaten her, and he began to forget 
how nearly they had come to losing her. 

Hilda, however, could not forget what the magic mirror 
had done for her, and she always kept it with her in a little 
bag. She took it to walk and to drive ; she took it to 
school, and on all her journeys. 

Every night, when she went to bed, she placed the bag 
containing her precious piece of broken looking-glass on the 
stand within reach. 

Often she was tempted to use the magic mirror in small 
matters. It would have told her which of her playmates 


Story of the Magic Mirror. 


169 


was most truthful and good, whether a new nurse or gov- 
erness was what she seemed, or even helped her, when she 
visited the candy stores, to decide on the kind of chocolates 
or bonbons to buy. But she always remembered that the 
magic mirror could be used but four times more, and was 
wise enough to be saving of its virtue. 

It was nearly a year after her twelfth birthday that 
Hilda, with her father and mother, was spending the summer 
at the seashore. The time had passed very pleasantly with 
driving, bathing, playing on the beach, and, most delightful 
of all, the sailing trips which they took almost every pleas- 
ant day. But, after all, Hilda thought the best of all would 
be the afternoon when the whole family set sail for a picnic 
on a little island a mile from the hotel. 

The picnic lunch took place under some trees, a little 
way back from the beach of the island. The dining-table 
was a big flat rock, all decorated with the wild flowers which 
Hilda and her father had been gathering, while her mother 
with the maid was spreading the cloth and laying out 
fruits and dainties. 

But no sooner had they eaten the delightful meal than 
Mr. Thompson began to look anxiously at the sky, which 
was rapidly clouding over. Then the wind began to rise, 
and to grow stronger every minute. 

He hastily arose, and ran along the beach looking for 
the boat which had brought his party over. It was no- 
where to be seen. Perhaps its owner had not thought they 
would want to return so soon. Two other boatmen, how- 


Return of the Fairies. 


170 

ever, offered to take the party home, each one claiming that 
his boat was safe, while the other’s was dangerous. Mr. 
Thompson did not know either of the men, nor which to 
trust. But the water between the island and the main- 
land, which had been so smooth a little while ago, was 
now white with tossinp- '''.ves, rising higher from minute to 
minute. 

There w^" no time to waste if they were to get safely 
across, axid as to spending the night on the little island, 
without any protection from the coming rain, that was not 
to be thought of. Mrs. Thompson liked the boatman with 
the smooth face and the pleasant smile the better of the 
two, and Mr. Thompson himself thought his boat looked 
neater and more trim than the other. 

“ You would better hurry, sir,” said the man, who 
began to look nervously at the sky and sea. “It will be 
risky to cross even now.” 

They were all following him to his boat when Hilda 
thought of her magic mirror. Who knows? It might 
save all their lives. Perhaps the smooth-looking man was 
not as trustworthy as the other. She opened her bag to 
take out the mirror. 

“ Hurry, my dear,” urged her father. “ There is not a 
minute to lose.” But she had now drawn out her glass, 
and was holding it so as to reflect the face of the boatman, 
while the waves tossed higher than ever, and the wind al- 
most tore the mirror from her hand. It showed the man 
as a grinning, foolish monkey. Mr. Thompson turned pale 


Story of the Magic Mirror. 


171 



Second Trial of the Magic Mirror. 


at the proof of their narrow escape, and quickly called the 
other boatman. 

In a minute more they were all in the other boat, and it 
was bravely breasting the waves, which seemed likely to sink 
it. But the boatman was skilful, and soon brought them 
safely to the other shore. Just as they were stepping out, 
with lightened hearts, they heard a loud shout from their 
friends, who had gathered anxiously at the dock to await 
them. Looking back, they saw the other boat, which they 


1/2 


Return of the Fairies. 


would have taken but for the magic mirror, tip over as it 
was struck by a big wave, throwing the boatman into the sea. 
H e was able to swim ashore, after a hard struggle for his 
life, but it was easy to see what would have happened to 
Hilda, her father and mother, and the faithful maid if 
they had been with him. 

It was one afternoon early the coming winter, just as 
Hilda and her young friends had been dismissed from danc- 
ing-school, that a man came running up the stairs shouting 
“ Fire, fire !” There were two stairways leading down from 
the high building where the school was held, and the fright- 
ened children did not know which one would be safer for 
them to take to reach the ground. At the head of one 
flight of stairs the smoke was gathering quite thick, while 
the other was clear. But who could tell how it might be 
lower down ? The dancing-teacher stood at the top of the 
stairway which was not smoky, and urged the children to 
come that way. The hoarse shouts of the firemen and the 
pumping of the engines could be heard outside. 

“ Hurry,” cried the dancing-master. “ Come this way 
while there is time. Somebody told me this was the safe 
way to the ground.” The excited children were about to 
obey him when Hilda thought of her magic mirror. In an 
instant she drew it out of the bag, which she always had 
with her, and held it so as to reflect the face of the dancing- 
master. It showed him as a silly parrot, the bird which 
only repeats what some silly person has told her. Hilda 
thrust the mirror back quickly into the bag again, and 


Story of the Magic Mirror. 


173 


catching her nearest friend by the hand, cried, “The other 
is the safe way,” and rushed toward the smoky staircase, 
followed not only by the other children, but by the dancing- 
master himself. 



Third Trial of the Magic Mirror. 

Before they had gone down a dozen steps the smoke 
became less thick. When they had all reached the street in 
safety they looked back and saw that the hall into which the 
other stairs led was a mass of dames. So this time the magic 
mirror saved not only Hilda, but all her young friends. 


174 


Return of the Fairies. 


Hilda’s next great danger was of a very different kind. 
There was a new teacher in her school, who kept saying flat- 
tering things to the girl. One day she said Hilda was very, 
very pretty : her hair was so long and thick, her eyes were 
so large and soft, her lips so sweet. The next day the 
child was told how graceful she was, how well she walked 
and stood ; the next day how very kind-hearted she was, 
much better to all her mates than they deserved or than they 
were to her. Another day the teacher told her how bright 
she was, the quickest of scholars, who learned her lessons 
without half trying. So, as was only natural, the child 
came to talk of herself most of the time when at home, and 
was in a fair way of being spoiled. 

Mr. Thompson was very unhappy over the way things 
seemed to be going, being afraid that his daughter would 
grow up a vain, silly, and useless woman. But it was all for 
nothing that he tried his best to show her the mistake she 
was making in believing all the flattering words she might 
hear, until one lucky morning he bethought himself of the 
magic mirror. 

“ You always take the magic mirror to school, I sup- 
pose,” he said. 

“ Yes, papa. But why do you speak of it ? ” 

“ Well, my dear,” he replied, “ you do not seem to trust 
me when I tell you that people who praise us do not always 
mean what they say. Why not put this teacher of yours to 
the test ? ” 

“ What do you mean, papa ? ” said Hilda, making ready 
to set out for school. 


Story of the Magic Mirror. 


175 


“ Why, just this, my dear. The next time your new 
teacher begins to tell you how lovely or bright or good you 
are, hold up your magic mirror so as to reflect her face in 
it. So you will learn whether she is as sincere and true as 
she is pleasant to listen to.” 

Hilda was so sure that nobody could praise her without 
being good and true that she was very willing to put her 
teacher to the test. 

“ ril do it,” she answered gayly, as she ran off to school. 

But when she came home at noon she was crying bitterly. 

“ What is the matter ? ” asked her father tenderly, as he 
took her in his arms. 

So, between her sobs, Hilda told him how she had tried 
the magic mirror on the teacher who had done nothing but 
praise her, “ and, what do you think, (sob) I saw her in the 
mirror as a fox. You remember the fable, (sob) about the 
fox who wanted the piece of cheese which the bird had in 
her mouth ? (sob) The bird was perched on the branch of 
a tree, and the fox was on the ground below, looking up 
hungrily. You know the picture ? ” 

“ Yes,” answered her father, hugging her a little closer, 
“ and I have seen so many of such foxes, and of such foolish 
birds ! ” 

“ Then you remember that the cunning fox told the 
bird how sweet a voice she had — she was a hoarse, cracked- 
voiced old crow — and the silly thing opened her mouth to 
sing, and dropped the cheese for the sly fox. Well, (sob) 
my teacher, whom I had thought so nice, looked just like 


176 


Return of the Fairies. 



The Magic Mirror Gives a Painful Tesson. 


that fox in the picture.” And Hilda, who had just learned 
the hardest and perhaps most useful lesson of her life, 
nestled her head against her father’s loving shoulder, and 
cried as if her heart would break. 

Soon afterwards colder weather came, and ice formed on 
the pond near Hilda’s home, although in some places it was 
thin. One of her foolish playmates persuaded her to skate 
over a dangerous place. If Hilda had tried her magic mir- 
rgr shg wguld ngt have taken the risk. But perhaps shg 


Story of the Magic Mirror. 


77 


was a little out of patience with it since her last painful les- 
son. The ice broke beneath her weight and she came near 
being drowned. As it was, she caught a severe cold, and in 
a few days a dreadful disease with a long name set in, and it 
was feared the child would not get well. 

Her mother hardly left the sick-room day or night, and 
her father, being only in the way in the room, spent his 
days and nights waiting outside the door, afraid to look in 
the faces of those who came out lest he should read there 
the worst news. 

At last the old family doctor said he could do nothing 
more to help the sick child, and two famous doctors were 
sent for from far away. The doctors had heard of each 
other, but had never met until in Hilda’s sick-room. They 
were very different in appearance. One was tall and fat, with 
a full, ruddy face. When he talked he puffed out his cheeks, 
and, as he stood or walked about, his body bent forward in 
the middle like a bow. Certainly he looked much more 
important than the small, thin doctor, with the pale face and 
the stoop in his narrow shoulders. 

The two doctors looked carefully at the sick child, and, 
when it came to talking over her case, did not think it neces- 
sary to go out, since she seemed to be so weak as not to 
notice what was said or done. ^ Each had a medicine to sug- 
gest which he thought would save her, and each was sure that 
the medicine advised by the other would do more harm than 
good. After disputing for a few minutes, and getting more 
angry every minute, they called Mr. Thompson in from his 


78 


Return of the Fairies. 


anxious seat just outside the door, to decide between them. 
He did not hesitate a moment, the fat, red- faced doctor 
looked so much wiser than the small doctor with the pale 
cheeks and the stooping shoulders. 

“ Well,” said the small, pale doctor, taking up his hat to 
go, “ then you have no more use for me. When you lose 
your child you will know whom to blame.” 

Just then Hilda opened her eyes, and seemed to be try- 
ing to say something. Her mother was bending over her 
in an instant to catch the feeble whisper, and then turned 
quickly to her husband, who asked what his dear little girl 
had said. 

“ She wants the magic mirror,” she answered, hurriedly 
taking it from the bag which lay on the stand at her bedside. 
The big, red-faced doctor, curious to know what was going 
on, had drawn near while the thin white hands held up the 
stained piece of broken looking-glass. 

To Mr. Thompson’s astonishment, the important ap- 
pearing gentleman was reflected in the magic mirror as a 
stupid donkey, hardly any taller than a Shetland pony. 

The effort exhausted the child’s strength, and she sank 
back and closed her eyes again. But the magic mirror had 
done its work once more. The fat, wise-looking doctor 
was sent away, and the other stayed to care for the sick child, 
who was soon restored to perfect health. 

When Hilda had grown quite well again her parents 
took her far away to a foreign land. There they stayed for 
some years and until Hilda had grown to be a woman. But 


Story of the Magic Mirror. 179 

hardly a day passed that they did not speak of what a bles- 
sing the magic mirror had been, and think gratefully of 
the old woman who had made Hilda the gift. 

When Hilda returned from foreign lands she had 


Hilda Chooses between the Doctors. 



reached the age when her parents began to think of her 
getting married. The house was gay with parties and 
dances, and young men came from far and near to try to 
win her for a bride. Some loved her for her beauty, others 


Return of the Fairies. 


i8o 

for her sweetness, others pretended to love her, but only 
for the sake of her riches. No girl in the land had more 
real or pretended lovers. 

Among all those who wanted to be her husband there 
were two, at the last, between whom she was to choose. 
Both were handsome, both were pleasing in manner, yet 
they were quite different, one having black hair and flash- 
ing black eyes, while the other had brown hair and blue 
eyes. The black-eyed man was the handsomer, and most 
of her friends thought she would choose him. Both had 
asked her hand, and the time had come, on the evening 
when her twenty-first birthday party filled the grand house 
with gay guests, that she was to give her answer. The 
hours were passing merrily away, and she seemed to be no 
nearer making up her mind as to which she should choose, 
when suddenly an idea came to her. Hastily leading her 
parents to one side into the very library where her father 
had sat the night she was born, she exclaimed : 

“ Have you forgotten all about the magic mirror? ” 

“ Indeed, no ! ” answered her father. “ How could we 
ever forget the dangers from which that broken piece of 
looking-glass saved our darling child ? ” 

“ Then you must remember it has been used but four 
times, and can be used once more. Perhaps it may save 
me from an even greater danger now. Why not try my 
two lovers with it, and see which is the truer and better 
man ? ” 

“ Why not, indeed ? ” echoed her mother eagerly. 


Story of the Magic Mirror. 


i8i 



How Hilda Chose a Husband. 


“ Run and get the mirror, and your father will call them 
into this room for the test.” 

When Hilda returned with the mirror in the little bag 
in which she had always kept it she found the two young 
men waiting in wonder as to what it could all mean. Mr. 
Thompson merely said : “ Here is a curiosity. It is a 
strange sort of mirror which my daughter would like you to 
look at.” 

Still wondering, the two men took their places on either 



Return of the Fairies. 


side of her, as she held up the stained piece of looking- 
glass, and all three looked into it. It was still not so 
badly stained as to fail in its last task. Hilda was reflected 
as a lamb, the blue-eyed lover as a magnificent lion, the 
king of all animals, and the other young man as a skulking 
and cowardly jackal, watching the lamb with a hungry 
look, but trembling with fear of her protector, the noble 
lion. 

This settled it. Mr. Thompson, with tears of happi- 
ness in his eyes, placed the hand of his daughter in that of 
the young man who had stood the test so well. Then they 
returned to the drawing-rooms, and, in the presence of the 
great company, it was announced that Hilda had chosen the 
husband which her parents most desired. 

Their wedding was the grandest ever known in that 
country, and they lived happily ever after. 



■JUL -3 !9/i5 





‘ A 'r- m 



V ' W«' .ji ' ^ji * SV * 


;• V: “Tv '^’-^ 'iHa 

K;i ; 

^ <v ' - • - i.« ^' , » • . ' ‘ ' t 4 y I* • •' •■ , •' ai IP 

. i,' k- ‘ ^ *• * * ^1 » . ■ ♦ - V ■ . ^ 1. ■ '. - # * ' f I .*« 


L^i 


,,. ,»,«f 

_ - _ a* • A 


. * . -Tuv 


» i 


*' >. 




»*> 




• -t 


7^ 


> ^ f 

*' 


< . V. • 


►* • 


ir^ ! ’ 


•> 


ij*T* 

.•,•.'■■’•» .•■■■- ? ■ \r>. 

V' -■• ' I >,'*•• -O’ ‘‘♦^- 

' .^' V • •' • iy > ' • ■* 0 ■ i ^ -^ 4 - 


y 


, V' ' 
« ^ 


I 


• '• /* 
'/• 


r V 


• 

•r 


" W-. '■ 


r ^ 


'» ; 


- \ *1 '* '^ • ^ ^ ■• ■ : ' .• ^•.*^ fetBa i.jl< ;*lr^^ 

V-- ' .-.; ^->'1 > , • >>- tSSBlijw' '* ir'-' '•' 

■ ^ %■, r ■:^ 

* • •* -i »>v\ ji:j% ^ ‘-^Z? sW 


■■r :-:-»5L. 

W • T , • “ •> 

■ ‘* » . » 


"p,.- ■> i 

■ ■;* .^' 1 ';, ‘^- 

••'4 






Hr* * fcf* ■''•♦ - ^ '/ ^ : ' —• ! fT V » '- .». 

■ >■' ' > .r . ■;■ ■:'^ ■ ^ ,. ‘ 

A*^ '*■ :■ ■ ^' ^ ■'.••«' ' 

.- a; : /„ K : '• ■'■■ '' ' • ' ' J' 

‘ » I ^ ' ’ ► * TB 

v' ... * . J *aj 


'|1W:“%*'K'.'t' .- i c.; - 1 

Atjr^y w i VN • ' t*' 




» * 

/ V 


$ • 


TI 


rT ^ m 

:■■■ , ‘ . • , 
S^f.’ruK;, ." ■ - • 

tft' v , > 


* »• 


\ 


> 



4 r 


LHi; 


•yit. 


» % 


tiii 


< *. 


S Y'a-' ^ 


ri 


« ^ 




x-'A , 

kjf| •» • ^ 

P r.^:,-' ‘.I : 

SBKw . *• ; 4 .- • I.' ^ u 

JOfiTv .. - . , 



I 


’ 




to 


.’k. 


> t 




■ ■ 


'. •: 




4 ( 


• '•‘v’ ' ■ ■;/ 


■i't* • 

•■\' .j’;- ^ 


. * . 


j 

lA 


■> 




4 


* m! 


4' 


' I 
*» ' 


f-- 


' » 




4 ■ » 

4 


. . 4 . . 


4 > 





-V.' 


I <»*•"'./ 

• a ,•:■• • , p 


I 

f ' * 

r » ... ip*^,.,. 

x:<tj -'A " -iil • ® ‘ ■ P ’-'^''ty,' ;> vv,. ' „■?. a ‘^• ' i i. 

., jf I I* 1 ^' * * - 4 ^ * * f* “ |M BBr U 

'i-;.-'*'' -■i'SPfai '.'V-,.- ■.. 


^ V 


4 


BBHoSIT- ^ *?T V*' xtv. * . J .4« Jfci. I./ .•rSS. •. •wttfcfi^SiF- V. '*. 


>• i 


:«i 






BSlnlijBir - ^. i ^ 


f r** 






rl*! 




.-Vf-J 






(aM. 





I 


I • 






V. '.X 


V 


A* 


-> 





* 0 


I 

f. 






♦ 


/ 




i* 





.f 


xn* 

,f • 


/ 


I 


•/ 


f 


X 


'I 



‘*V 



i 


» ^ 




. ' lV?*V . > 

7 , I ■ 


I 


4 




1 

I 


I 


I* 


I 















